Harmless
by Bookworm Gal
Summary: Post "Phantom Planet." Life begins to settle down for everyone after the near destruction of Earth. But someone can't leave things alone. Even gone, Vlad still leaves an influence. The Fright Knight accidentally unleashes a powerful evil, one from before King Pariah's reign. One that scares everyone, from the Box Ghost to the Observants. Who'll stop him? Or can he even be stopped?
1. It Begins

**I don't know why I believe I have any form of self-control. I shouldn't be starting another story. I really, really shouldn't. But I ended up being hit by a moment a brilliance and well… another story was born. **

**As you probably guessed, I don't own "Danny Phantom." If I did, the third season would have been longer and a little less… jumbled. I'd also be rich, but that's not the point. I don't own them, I make no profit from this, and updates will be insanely slow. But I hope you'll enjoy anyway.**

**Oh, and this is after "Phantom Planet." Which means the secret's out, Vlad is MIA in space, Dani is wandering the world and no longer about to dissolve into goo, Tucker is mayor, Sam finally ended up with Danny, and things are for the most part pretty good. That means it is a perfect time to unleash something horrible to force some team-ups between former enemies, devise a dangerous plan with high risks, and have an underestimated hero show the villain that it isn't wise to ignore an apparently weaker threat. All the fun stuff! I hope you'll like it.**

Harmless

Deep within the Ghost Zone, isolated and out of the way of most specters who might stumble upon it, dwelt one of the more powerful beings in the realm. Some might call him _the_ most powerful, but he knew there were limitations to what he could and could not do. Just like there were limitations to what others could do. The trick was, in the end, figuring out how to use your abilities to do what was needed to overcome those limitations.

The ghost who dwelt in this particular corner of the Ghost Zone, for example, was both empowered and limited by his abilities. Wrapped in his cloak and observing the time stream with his bright red eyes as he shifted between different ages, Clockwork knew exactly what was coming. He knew what was coming in several possible futures. He knew which events would be turning points that could propel them towards a brighter reality or plunge both worlds into utter darkness. He knew which of the untold possibilities were most likely to come to pass without outside influence. Clockwork also knew that almost any of the thousands upon thousands ways he might try to help those involved would end with failure and, in many cases, his own destruction. Watching himself vanish from the timeline in hundreds of different manners was neither pleasant nor encouraging. It was one of the drawbacks of being the Ghost of Time, though.

He could, in theory, go back far enough to stop the coming disaster at the source. He wasn't supposed to interfere with the flow of events directly, but there were always loopholes that he could devise. But that was a more dangerous plan than the others. Not only would there be repercussions that would be difficult to manage properly, often leading to even worse futures if he made even the slightest error with his actions, but it was too easy to be tempted to make other changes. The more he interfered, the easier it became the next time. And Clockwork knew that he could easily become the worst threat to all of reality if he strayed too far down that path. He already could see those timelines where he used his power too freely and became corrupted. His limitations were his fear of what he could become; the knowledge of what he became in other timelines kept him from seeking out those loopholes and "cheating" that often.

No, the answers for the coming disaster weren't in the past. Nor were they technically in the present. The moment when he would have to act was in the near future. A small action, one that appeared at first to be meaningless, was all that he could risk. It should be enough to push events towards a more positive timeline.

Turning his attention away from the infinite timelines, Clockwork resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. He knew they were coming. He knew what they would undoubtedly say, though there were some variations between the timelines. They thought they knew what the best course of action was, but they could be surprisingly blind. They could see only the current and most probably timeline, not the alternatives or how little it might take to change something. They grew angry when he interfered with what they viewed as someone's free will, yet they would prefer to have a young teenage boy destroyed rather than take the time to ensure he remember there are consequences to his actions and give him the knowledge of what can happen if he loses his way. Second chances were not something that they believed in.

Two humanoid figures with giant eyeballs for heads entered the clock tower that he considered his home. The Observants lacked a proper face to hold an expression with, but he knew they were panicking at least slightly. They have even less freedom than him when it comes to affecting the world. That was why they wanted him to do their dirty work, even when their own knowledge of the timeline was too linear and limited.

"He is going to wake up," the first Observant announced, skipping anything close to a greeting. "This cannot be allowed to occur."

"Unfortunately, it must happen," said Clockwork. "He will awaken regardless. It is better for it to occur now, when there are those who can and will combat him, than to postpone it to a time where he will be unhindered."

"You cannot be serious," the second Observant stated in shock. "You are the Ghost of Time. You cannot be so blind as to ignore what will happen if he is allowed free once more. Even if he has faded from memory of almost every other inhabitant of the Ghost Zone, you still remember him and what he is capable of. And if he wakes, it'll make the release of Pariah Dark look like an attack by that strange Box Ghost person."

Smiling knowingly to himself as he shifted from his adult form to child, he remarked, "I find it curious that you keep attempting to inform me of things I am already aware of. I recall both his initial actions before the rise of Pariah and all the timelines where he continued to grow in power instead of being stopped. I also can see the timelines where he awakened sooner than this and destroyed both worlds with ease. Just as clearly, I can see what will come to pass if he is prevented from awakening now. It may buy the Ghost Zone and the Human Realm some time, but it will still lead to their inevitable destruction. Now is the only point where he can awaken and be stopped permanently."

"How?" the first asked. "All we see is his victory. Action must be taken before it is too late. It took you and five of the other most powerful ghosts of that time to combat Pariah in the first place. And he is far worse than Pariah Dark. Do you believe that you can stop him yourself once he awakens?"

"I cannot," he replied, shifting into an old man as bent over and weary with age as he truly felt when the weight of all the timelines began to weigh him down. "I cannot stop him if I should face him directly. At best, I risk my destruction. At worst, I risk my corruption. But I know who can and will attempt to face him."

"Danny Phantom," the two Observants answered in unison, rolling their eyes in a manner than was mildly distracting considering the size of the eyeballs in question.

"We know that you seem rather… _fond_ of the boy," the first Observant said.

"I recognize his potential and the fact that his absence from the timeline would have made it worse in the long run," stated Clockwork firmly. "The Human Realm would be overwhelmed by the more chaotic ghosts, Vlad Plasmius would be still hunting for dangerous elements in the Ghost Zone that should be left well enough alone, and there would be no possibility of cooperation between humans and ghosts. There may not be many who would consider such things, even in the face of destruction, but the boy bridges that gap and opens possibilities. The Human Realm and the Ghost Zone depend upon the other to exist. The better futures are those that have the inhabitants remember that fact." Shifting back to his adult form, he continued, "Once he learns of the danger, he will almost certainly do everything in his power to stop him."

"We know that," the second Observant interrupted. "But he will fail. That is what we've seen."

Slowly, he nodded, "I know he will. I also know he will come to me for advice. That is where the change shall occur."

"What advice could you possibly give that will allow the boy to defeat someone like him? Someone you admit yourself that cannot be stopped by even the Ghost of Time. What could you say to him that will change what is to come?"

"I will tell him what he needs to know. No more and no less."

"Will it be enough?"asked the second Observant. "This is not an issue that should be taken lightly."

As he changed once more into an infant, Clockwork said calmly, "I know that even as a fourteen year old boy given powers he never expected to possess, he always found a way to do the right thing and to never truly accept failure. He will follow the advice because that is who he is."

"But will it be enough?" he repeated.

"If there is anything I know from observing the infinite timelines, it is the fact that even the smallest and most unlikely actions or people can make all the difference. Even when it seems like such an innocent or harmless act or individual, all of reality can shift."

* * *

Everyone knew that the Dis-asteroid changed everything, especially the inhabitants of Amity Park. Ghosts saved the world. How is that not supposed to make a difference? Granted, most ghosts were still at least semi-malevolent towards the population, but it was concrete proof that they weren't all completely evil. Of course, there were plenty of people who already believed that once it became clear that Danny Phantom was trying to protect the citizens of the town.

Then, they learned that their ghostly defender wasn't quite as deceased as his opponents. The idea that Danny Phantom, the hero, was also Danny Fenton, the ordinary high school student, shocked everyone. They were shocked by the sheer impossibility of being half ghost and, those closer to him, were shocked that they couldn't figure it out sooner. Too many classmates went around the school for weeks, muttering under their breath about how stupid it was not to notice the similar names. Adding in the fact that Vlad Masters, their mayor, was also Vlad Plasmius and another half ghost only increased the confusion.

The loss of their mayor, the reveal of the identity of the town hero, and the near destruction of the entire planet was enough to make things complicated, but there were more changes as everyone tried to adapt. Tucker Foley became mayor even while balancing school. Those who complained about having a teenager in charge were quickly reminded that the last elected official was evil, so almost anyone would be an improvement. One of the first things that the new Mayor Tucker did was to pass a law prohibiting the Guys In White from setting foot within city limits. Even saving the world wasn't enough to completely extinguish the group's desire to drag Danny back to a lab. At least his family was no longer discussing the idea of ripping ghosts apart "molecule by molecule" quite as much. Valerie, while not yet willing to completely surrender her battle suit, kept some distance from Danny. She apparently surrendered her past hatred of Phantom and wanted to make amends for the past, but didn't seem quite ready to properly address that particular tangle of issues head on.

The celebrity status was a nightmare for a time since everyone wanted to see the heroic half ghost who helped save the world. While it was good for tourism, it was an annoyance for the teachers at Casper High School and the Fenton family started waving the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick whenever they were forced to leave their home. Or, in the case of one individual in the household, turning invisible to escape. Privacy was a rare commodity for the moment. But even the flood of attention was beginning to slowly die down and Amity Park was settling down into a new form of normal.

The biggest change that came from the Dis-asteroid, as far as one individual was concerned, centered on the Goth girl that Danny was currently flying to the park with. Sam Manson was one of his best friends (along with Tucker), one of the first two people to learn about his transformation (again, with Tucker being the second), and someone he'd been in love with longer than either of them realized. She'd faced almost every kind of ghost that tried to pound him into the ground, offering support and assistance alongside Tucker. But while Tucker would always be one of his best and most loyal friends, even with his free time being stolen by his new job title, Sam was special. She wasn't someone he cared about because of her looks or popularity. He cared about her because she was… Sam. And he didn't know how long he might have waited to say anything or to admit it to himself if the Dis-asteroid didn't essentially knock some sense into him. Apparently everyone figured it out before the two of them.

She wasn't what was traditionally considered beautiful; at least that's what the other girls at the school always acted like until she won the beauty contest. Dressed in dark clothes and with black hair, she was surprisingly cheerful at times and merely held an interest in things beyond fashion and makeup. He was a black-haired blue-eyed human and a white-haired green-eyed ghost. Somehow, they fit together beyond the friendship they always held. But even admitting that their feelings weren't completely platonic, the strong bonds they built through that friendship still remained and only served to strengthen their new roles as girlfriend and boyfriend.

"I got a postcard from Danielle the other day," he remarked as the two of them reached their destination near the actual park of Amity Park. "Apparently she's traveling with Wulf of all people. She said she ran into him while exploring one day and he seemed to recognize her."

"She probably smells like you," Sam said. "He's also a good judge of character. So, when do you plan to tell your parents about your 'cousin'?"

Setting her down and changing back to his human form, Danny pointed out, "I wanted to let Mom and Dad get used to the idea of their son being half ghost before I introduce the idea that I have a younger female clone floating around who is also half ghost. You know, spread out the shocking revelations as much as possible."

"Not to mention it'll probably reignite your mom's desire to hunt Vlad down to make him sorry for every single thing he did as Plasmius," she muttered, taking a seat on the bench and indicating she wanted Danny to join her. "None of us really liked the guy, but I think she's going to hold a grudge about everything until the day that Skulker gives up hunting."

"Attacking your son and trying to repeatedly kill your husband apparently does that to a woman. I'm glad he's gone and out of all our lives. The only one who seems to hate him even more than her right now is Valerie."

Leaning closer to him, Sam added, "It certainly makes it easier to have him not making a mess of things or working on another plan. Sure, ghosts still show up and everything. But he isn't sending them after you or unleashing King Pariah again because he wanted power from a ring and crown or anything like that anymore."

"It does make things easier," he smiled, "for us to be alone together."

"_I_ am the Box Ghost!" a voice interrupted, causing the two humans to roll their eyes in annoyance. "Beware!"

Just as they expected, a bluish figure was floating above them. Dressed in overalls and holding his hands above his head, the Box Ghost glared at them menacingly. Or at least, as menacingly as he could manage. The only time he could actually pull off the intimidation thing was when he stole Pandora's Box, an action he'd been thoroughly discouraged from ever repeating. For the most part, he was considered one of the most harmless and annoying ghosts Danny ever dealt with. And he just didn't know when to give up.

"Really? Is the universe that desperate to keep us from being alone together?" Danny muttered, standing up.

"Do not allow our past encounters to lull you into a false sense of security," the ghost stated, practically shouting he floated in midair. "I have made it my goal to become even more terrifying and awe-inspiring than I was in our previous battles. It is only natural that you tremble in fear of the corrugated cardboard doom that awaits _you_."

"You do realize you're interrupting our date," Sam glared at the specter without even a hint of the requested fear. "Do you know how hard it is to be completely alone when there are reporters just itching for a chance to snap the next front page photo of Danny? While the attention is great for encouraging people to buy eco-friendly cars and to go vegetarian, it isn't great when I want to just spend time with my boyfriend." She stood up and continued, "You have two choices. Go away and leave us alone or get sucked in the Fenton Thermos and stay in there for a week before being tossed back into the Ghost Zone. Either way, you're going to stop bothering us _now_."

Danny rather enjoyed the look of confusion, shock, and mild terror that spread across the Box Ghost's face at Sam's calm yet angry statement. She didn't usually have a temper, but this was actually their third attempt that week at getting to be alone together that had been interrupted by someone. And it was only Tuesday.

Quietly, the specter mumbled, "Sorry. I didn't know you were on a date. I actually won the bet about when you'd get together."

"There was a bet?" Danny couldn't help himself from asking.

Regaining his previous volume, the Box Ghost announced, "_Yes_! Almost all of your past opponents who witnessed your behavior came together and discussed the length of time it would take for your infatuation to reach the point where denial became impossible. Eventually, we contemplated your interactions and estimated what we each believed would be required for you to end up together._ I_ was the one who was correct when I declared it occur when the _entire _Human Realm was in danger of being destroyed, such as what happened with the asteroid."

"Our love life was the gossip for the Ghost Zone," sighed Sam as Danny smacked his forehead. "It is official. _Everyone_ figured it out first."

"At one point, Skulker considered trying to give you advice to speed up the process so that he might win the bet before he succeeded in his efforts to 'strike you down and lay your pelt across the foot of his bed.' But since that would be cheating, the other ghosts threatened him if he should try," continued the Box Ghost.

"Dating advice from _Skulker_?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"He's dating Ember McLain," the specter added helpfully. "He has to be doing something right." Looking mildly embarrassed, he muttered, "I can't even talk to the Lunch Lady."

Remembering one of the ghosts from the future he'd met, Danny flinched involuntarily and groaned, "Okay, that is still 'ew'."

"Are we seriously having this discussion?" moaned Sam. "Look, I know you have this issue with realizing that _no one_ with any sense is scared of you and you seem to believe that ordinary boxes can be dangerous, but I think we're done for the day. Box Ghost, get out of here now or else I'll demonstrate why interrupting our date is a bad idea. Got it?"

Hesitating for a moment, the ghost glanced between the girl and the halfa who couldn't even bother to transform from his human form. The harmless villain looked briefly discouraged by her words and complete lack of fear. But that expression swiftly vanished as he threw his hands above his head again.

"Beware!" he shouted before flying away.

"Remind me to beat him up extra hard next time I run into him," Danny grinned evilly.

"No problem," she smiled, pulling her boyfriend back down on the bench.

* * *

The Ghost Zone was not for the faint of heart. It was a dangerous place if one was not careful. Natural portals that could connect to any time or place were scattered throughout and tiny pieces of solid land that floated. Some landmarks scattered through the dark dimension could be deadly and unpleasant to encounter. Others could simply be considered home to ghosts that could prove to be territorial or violent, the landscape shaping itself to reflect the will and desires of the most strong-willed inhabitants. The dimension, sharing a symbiotic connection to the Human Realm, was composed of variations of ectoplasm and thus was the ultimate source of all ghosts.

Ghosts weren't necessarily the souls of the dead, though the loss of human life could certainly spark their creation. One definition used to describe them was an "odd manifestation of ectoplasmic energy and post-human consciousness," but that was only one form and one way that they could come into existence. There was more variety to the inhabitants of the Ghost Zone than that.

Some ghosts were spontaneous creatures that emerged from the ectoplasm or were given form by other specters. Those tended to be the least human-like and often the least intelligent, though there were exceptions. Skulker, after all, was not the spirit of a living hunter, but a small green ghost who developed a battle suit to appear more humanoid and yet was as intelligent as any other specter. Given time, they could become smarter and grow more complex. Many, though, would remain as creatures that obeyed orders or acted on instinct rather than having a developed personality and mind.

Other times, a death of a particularly strong-willed person or one with strong emotions connected to the event would leave an echo of that person to form in the Ghost Zone, providing a template for their appearance, personality, and even occasionally memories. A ghost called Sydney Poindexter, for example, retained almost every memory of the human who once suffered so much bullying during his life and even managed to recreate the familiar school and inhabitants due to the strong emotions surrounding his demise. These ghosts were the closest to what was considered a "traditional" ghost. They weren't quite the souls of the deceased, but they were close enough for most.

The third type of ghosts was also spontaneous creatures that form from the ectoplasm of the Ghost Zone, but are the result of human belief rather than by mere chance. Belief, like strong emotions and will can leave echoes behind that are felt though the same bond that connects the Human Realm and Ghost Zone. Myths, legends, and folk stories that are told enough generate belief and can cause ghosts to take those forms. This can range from the creation of werewolf ghosts to Pandora of Greek mythology to anthromorphic personifications of complex subjects such as time, nature, and sleep.

One such ghost was now traveling to a particularly dark and deserted corner of the Ghost Zone, fulfilling his final deal with Vlad Plasmius. The Fright Knight, the spirit of Halloween and the embodiment of the fear that it can generate, was searching for a long-forgotten and very powerful entity. He'd been looking for him for quite some time. Possession of the Crown of Flames was useless without the ring and no one was willing to risk freeing King Pariah once more, so an alternative would have to be found. There were few ghosts that could be considered his equal in power, so there were few places where he could search for an artifact that could be forced to work with the crown. He'd already tried every other location or ghost that might have something they could use with the Crown of Fire. Now he was left with no other option. He guided his steed, a nightmarish beast of flames and darkness, to a place that others feared to tread.

It was dark, far darker than any other corner of the Ghost Zone. The only source of light was the purple flames that came from the black-armored knight. The green glow that could be found anywhere else in the dimension was absent. No one should ever come to this place and the Fright Knight knew it. He was old enough to recall. It was from before King Pariah rose to power. He could remember what lurked in the darkness and even he feared what would occur if the past repeated.

Moving further into the darkness cautiously, he watched for any hint of land floating in the shadowy area. If there were any artifacts of power hidden here, he would find them. He just hoped to remain undetected as he searched. After all, almost any ghost as powerful as the one that dwelled in this dark place would have to possess something strong enough to work with the crown and they could unleash its potential once more.

Working with Vlad for now, the Fright Knight knew he would be able to conquer the human world and take it as his own. He knew of the man's setbacks concerning the asteroid and hadn't heard from him since, but the Fright Knight held no doubts that he would return eventually and seek a way to recover from those failures. And that was what the ghost was counting on. The man might be powerful, but he would be easier to seize power from that it would be from King Pariah. Cooperation now would mean a simpler victory later. The hunt for power would be Vlad Plasmius' undoing. A single slash of his blade would send the halfa into an eternal nightmarish reality and the Fright Knight would be left to rule.

A small glimmer in the dark captured his attention. The light from the purple flames on his head seemed to be reflecting off something. And objects of power tended to be at least somewhat shiny. Since there were no other landmarks in sight and he didn't have any other ideas of where to look, he moved toward the glint of reflected light.

* * *

As Danny came down the stairs into the basement, he caught sight of his parents drawing up blueprints. Some things never changed and their obsession with ghost hunting and creating inventions to assist in their hunting remained just as strong as ever. They simply excluded the idea of adding "Danny Phantom" to their list now. The Ghost Portal was rebuilt, the equipment from Vlad's home that wasn't taken into the custody of the Guys In White were collected, and new designs were drawn. But what else could he expect? At least he managed to convince his dad that they didn't have to do all ghost hunting together. Not to mention he could always use a few new tools when it came to fighting ghosts.

"What are you working on?" he asked, glancing at the design.

Wrapping an arm around his son with a wide grin on his face, Jack Fenton happily answered, "You'll love this. We've been studying the molecular properties of ectoplasm and how it manages to mimic and interact with normal matter. And considering that ghosts are made of the stuff, we're finding plenty of practical uses for that knowledge."

"For example, we have theorized that it would be possible to disrupt the process that allows ghosts to manifest and destabilize it enough to return the ectoplasm into the natural state of unspecialized goo," continued Maddie Fenton, equally excited about what they were designing. "It would take some time, but it might be possible to create a devise that could do that to every ghost within range."

"I'm calling it the 'Fenton Ghost Disruption Bomb.' Takes out anything made of ectoplasm without causing any other damage. What do you think?" Jack asked excitedly.

Danny took a calming breath as he stared at his jumpsuit-wearing parents. While he was beyond happy that they handled the news of him being half ghost so well and didn't treat their son different because of it, they did still have trouble seeming to remember how their comments might sound to someone who wasn't completely human. Even after allowing them a few (non-painful) experiments. And while his grades would never be the best, he'd been deciphering ghost gibberish from them his whole life and could decode it into plain English when necessary.

"Guys, I love you and everything, but I'm honestly not excited about you designing an explosion. Let alone one that will pretty much rip apart any ghost 'molecule by molecule' and dissolve them into a puddle of goo," the boy remarked casually. "I've seen what that looks like and it isn't very pretty. And I'm not eager for an encore."

It took only an instant for the pair to go from excited scientists to ashamed parents. He didn't want to make them feel guilty about everything, but it was bad enough watching Vlad's collection of clones degenerate into ectoplasm and Dani almost sharing that fate. He didn't have a problem trapping ghosts and tossing them back into the Ghost Zone. Destroying them wasn't something he was eager to do, though. Great power, great responsibility, and great amounts of guilt if he started going down a darker road.

"I guess that one will have to go on the backburner for awhile then," Jack said uncomfortably.

"But we can at least continue the research into ectoplasm," his wife commented, trying to cheer him up. "I'm sure there are plenty of other applications for this information."

"Yeah," he shrugged before turning his attention back towards his son. "So, did you and Sam have a good time?"

Smiling slightly, he answered, "We did. At least, we did once we got rid of an annoying pest."

* * *

The glimmer he'd seen appeared to be golden orb, the size of a pumpkin, which was floating in the middle of the suffocating darkness. The Fright Knight studied the shape carefully. There were no symbols, engravings, or other hints of what the purpose might be. While he could recall the days before Pariah Dark took over as king, he didn't witness or know all that occurred during that time. He didn't remember any stories about a golden orb. But he could feel power radiating from it, more than enough power to be of use. Surely there would be a way to use the object with the Crown of Fire in order to assure success.

For a moment, something deep inside the specter shrieked at him not to touch it. Common sense, the ability to identify who the best ally in a situation might be, and several surprising defeats seemed to have banded together in his mind to warn him away from this action. Perhaps risking the wrath of King Pariah would be wiser and safer. Even the certainty of awakening him might be better than there mere possibility of rousing what dwelt in this dark place.

Then, shoving away those doubts, the Fright Knight reached out towards the object. It was just a harmless golden orb. He was a powerful ghost, the very spirit of Halloween. Fear was something that he caused others, not something he experienced himself. Nothing and no one could stand in his way. He would claim the artifact as his own, take it back and present it to Vlad so they could use it to unlock the power of the Crown of Fire, and take over and rule.

As soon as his hand touched the sphere, it shattered into dust and the darkness around him seemed to deepen. His steed began to panic and struggle under his control, but the Fright Knight knew it was already too late.

In front of him, deep in the incredible blackness that surrounded him, a giant pair of red eyes opened and saw him.

* * *

In the frozen wastelands of the Ghost Zone, where the yetis made their home and the Infi-map was kept safe, it was peaceful. Not all parts of the dimension were chaotic and malevolent. And not all inhabitants of the Ghost Zone considered Danny Phantom to be an enemy. Frostbite and his people considered "the Great One" to be a hero for his defeat of Pariah Dark and would always welcome him.

But the general peace was shattered as Frostbite felt it. He'd never experienced anything like it before, but he'd heard stories. And as he saw every other yeti in sight react in the same way, he knew he was right.

* * *

In his clock tower, even with the knowledge that it was coming, Clockwork shivered slightly as he felt it.

* * *

Nicolai Technus, Master of Technology, was relaxing in his particular piece of the Ghost Zone. Part of his territory resembled a high-tech lab similar to the one that he might have possessed in life. Or at least, in the life of the human Technus whose death caused the formation of the ghost one. Either way, he was proud of his lab and enjoyed spending time there when he wasn't attacking the human world with technology.

Then it hit him, suddenly and unexplainably. Every piece of technology held in midair by his power crashed to the ground as he lost his concentration. While he might have no proof of it, he knew what he felt was only the beginning.

* * *

"I hope you do better on our next date, dipstick," muttered Ember McLain darkly as she glared at her likely-to-soon-be-_ex_-boyfriend. "Because, as fascinating as it is to watch you blow up cardboard cutouts of Danny Phantom, I generally have different ideas of how to have a good time."

The large, mechanical figure with flaming green hair glared briefly at the diva with the blue flaming hair and a guitar. Their relationship was practically the definition of volatile. The only reason they even became boyfriend and girlfriend in the first place was because they ended up stuck in the Fenton Thermos together over a weekend.

"You'll change your tune once the Ghost Child's pelt is draped across my bed and I give you his decapitated head as gift," Skulker stated.

Before she could comment on the likelihood of that ever coming to pass, she felt it and almost staggered to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Skulker grimacing and clutching the side of his head.

"You feel that?" she asked, almost certain of the answer.

Hesitantly, he nodded, "Do you know what it means?"

"I heard rumors," Ember said. "What do we do?"

While they weren't the most affectionate couple in the Ghost Zone, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. He didn't, however, answer.

* * *

Two figures were sleeping in a cave. While they occupied the human world, neither one was completely human. The larger one was furry and wolf-like. The smallest of the pair, leaning against her companion as she slept, appeared to be a black-haired girl of approximately twelve years of age. While the more animalistic-appearing figure was a ghost who could tear portals between the Human Realm and the Ghost Zone, the girl was the greater oddity. She was a clone, far younger than she looked, and a halfa.

Their sound sleep was shattered as they felt it, even through the barrier between the two dimensions. It sent the larger wolf-like figure into attack mode, snarling and looking for the threat, and the girl awoke screaming.

His fur still raised, he managed to mutter something his companion didn't understand. The language barrier was a slight issue for the traveling companions, but he understand her and she was working on teaching him English slowly and could guess meanings the rest of the time.

"I'm fine, Wulf," she assured him. "What _was_ that?"

"Danĝero," he told her, the word close enough in his language for her to understand.

"Danger, huh?" she shivered. "I guessed that much."

* * *

Trying to shake off the remnants of his darker mood at the proof that even powerless, normal humans didn't fear him, the Box Ghost lurked around a warehouse packed with various boxes. While the selection wasn't as impressive in his opinion as his collection in the Ghost Zone, he did enjoy the various boxes that were just waiting for him to examine closer. At the moment, there were no humans around to witness the numerous cardboard containers floating in midair, but that also meant he didn't have to find out if they would actually fear him or simply tell him to leave too.

Then he felt it and every box fell to the ground at once as he released a short scream. He couldn't believe it and hoped for a second that he was mistaken, though he knew better than that. And while he felt mildly safer with the knowledge he was in the human world instead of the Ghost Zone, he knew that wouldn't protect him for long.

* * *

The loss of Vlad Masters made the ownership of Axiom Labs very uncertain for a time. But after examining several lesser-known bylaws concerning the labs (and being very surprised to learn that there was an established procedure of what to do when the owner of the company turned out to be a ghost), it was determined that Dr. Damon Gray was the most qualified to take control and that there wasn't anything in place that could dispute that decision. He also took possession of a cat that apparently went by the name of "Maddie," but that was only because someone had to. And while he tried to discourage his daughter, Valerie, from taking part in too many dangerous battles with ghosts, he wasn't above using the research and technology from the labs to ensure she was safe whenever she did go against his wishes.

So he kept an eye on the information sent back by the probe that was launched into the Ghost Zone during that time where all of Amity Park was pulled into the dimension by an entity called King Pariah. What he wasn't prepared for, however, was when the nearly steady flood of information transmitted across the barrier abruptly spiked and set off numerous alarms. Then, all transmissions ceased as the probe apparently overloaded completely. Dr. Gray stared at the screen for several seconds, a sense of foreboding beginning to rise as he wondered what could have caused that reaction.

* * *

Danny, about to share his and Sam's short encounter with the Box Ghost, abruptly felt something that sent him stumbling and caused his parents to look at him with alarm. Some of it was like his ghost sense and he could even see his breath, but it was like his ghost sense was on overdrive and there was an icy chunk where his heart should be. But there was more to it than that. It reminded him of being punched in the gut, so sudden and overwhelming that it took his breath away. He was hit with wave of fear, horror, dread, terror, and undeniable knowledge that he couldn't escape. There was nothing physical about what he felt. It was all emotions and concepts blocked out momentarily the rest of the world around him, his parents worried questions barely reaching him through the haze of shock and panic. He could feel it all the way down to his core. Something horrible was coming. Something that couldn't be stopped, couldn't be contained, and couldn't be defeated.

Almost as quickly as it hit him, the feelings and sensations faded. Not completely, though. There was still a sense of doom that tickled at the back of his mind, but it no longer felt like it was trying to knock him off his feet.

"Danny, are you all right?" his mom said, something in her concerned voice telling him that she'd asked that question several times already. "What happened?"

Shakily, he replied, "I don't know. But something bad either just happened or is about to."

* * *

Far from home, alone and unloved, he pondered what to do with the remainder of his existence. His surroundings, while beautiful with all the stars glowing in the darkness, only served to remind him of how much he'd lost in his hunt for more. Greed, pride, lust, envy, wrath, and every other vice he possessed lead him to this path and now he had nothing and no one in his life. The silence and isolation was enough to drive a man mad. Or to let him recover his sanity enough to recognize what he gave up in his quest for a love he could never truly have. Wouldn't it have been better to have something rather than _nothing_?

It hit him, even this far away from everything else. His interest in powerful artifacts meant he knew even the stories that were rarely remembered. He knew what he felt and he could guess what it meant.

The question, however, was did he care? Out in the middle of nowhere, he was in no danger. For once, his self-caused banishment was a good thing. There was no threat to him and there was nothing left he could lose. Right?

Shivering slightly as he tried to shrug off the sensations he'd just experienced, he turned his bright red eyes towards the infinite stars above him as if he expected them to spell out the answers he needed.

* * *

The Fright Knight felt it as the red eyes opened and knew he'd awakened the last being that he'd ever hoped to see. Fear as he'd never experienced before wrapped around the specter as he met the red-eyed gaze. He raised his blade defiantly, refusing to surrender without a fight. His bat-winged horse still fought for control as it tried to flee, but the ghost still possessed enough pride that he would rather face his death than try escaping someone he couldn't.

Death was not something easily experienced by ghosts. Those who were echoes of once mortal creatures knew the sensation, but the others could only imagine. Aging was a tricky business in the Ghost Zone and injuries healed far quicker and easier than those experienced by humans. But it was still something that could occur in the right circumstances, just as permanent injuries could be obtained.

Black tendrils burst out of the darkness and stabbed at Fright Knight and his steed, ignoring his attempts them off by slicing at them with his blade. While the sword held the potential to banish victims to a dimension crafted from their worst fears, pure spectral strength can overcome more specialized powers. The black tendrils struck true and a flash of dark energy erupted from within the ghost once known as the spirit of Halloween. Both the Fright Knight and his winged horse were destroyed, breaking apart into pure ectoplasm that dissolved away into the rest of the Ghost Zone.

Bored already with his efforts and dismissing his short-lived opponent, the red eyes turned their gaze away and began to search for something more interesting. It was time to wake up and see what had changed, after all.

**So, we have a quick look at the hero of the story, a vague glimpse of the villain, and a lot of ghosts freaking out because "he" woke up. Not to mention the demise of the Fright Knight in the first chapter. How's that for a tough bad guy? I'll be sure to reveal more about him later. In the mean time, let me know what you think. This is, after all, my first "Danny Phantom" story. I might not update quickly, but I still want to do a good job with it. Besides, feedback is always a good motivator and I enjoy hearing your thoughts and predictions. Thanks.**


	2. Team Phantom

**I would like to first thank the wonderful people who reviewed the first chapter. Even the short comments were nice to receive. I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy as the story progresses. I have some plans for the future I think you'll find entertaining.**

While college seemed so close now and she'd been preparing for years in order to make the most of the experience, Jazz Fenton couldn't help wondering if now was the best time for it. While her little brother could certainly take care of himself and her parents now knew the truth about their son, she didn't know if it felt right to leave yet.

Part of it she knew was her mild case of Ghost Envy. She understood perfectly why she would feel that way considering her parents obsession with ghosts during her entire childhood to the point where there were rare occasions where she wondered how much they could care about her since she wasn't one. Not to mention her brother _was_ part ghost, which added a whole new dimension to everything. But she refused to be jealous of the increase in attention that Danny received once they learned the truth and she'd been working on managing her slight Ghost Envy by bonding with her parents and reassuring herself that they did care about her more than their obsession. So while Ghost Envy and a desire to hold on to some of her family's attention might be part of her reluctance to leave home, Jazz knew it wasn't all of it.

She wanted to be involved. Her brother was propelled into being a celebrity by helping save the world. The whole Fenton family received recognition from the Dis-asteroid incident, but he was being hit by the brunt of it. Her knowledge of child psychology and her big sister instinct urged her to help keep an eye on him just in case this started to be too much for him to handle alone. At least until she was certain everything was settled down, Jazz wanted to be within easy reach. She, Sam, Tucker, their parents, and everyone else would eagerly offer him all the support they could. That would never change. And once she was certain that he could deal with his new fame and his ghost hunting without his big sister, she'd back off and let him live his life. Until then, there were community colleges and on-line classes she could take so that she would always be around to lend a sympathetic ear. It wouldn't be too hard to get her basic courses while living at home, after all.

The red-head teenager pulled her familiar teddy bear, Bearbert Einstein, closer as she began flipping through one of her textbooks that she would need for her college classes. There was no harm, after all, in getting an early start on her required reading. The numerous psychology classes she planned to take while in college would have plenty for her to learn, after all.

While once she'd considered a focus on child psychology with her studies, Jazz now felt the urge to go in a slightly different direction. She was developing an interest in paranormal-based psychology; specifically, she was focused on helping people deal with ghosts and possibly helping ghosts too if they'll let her. Her college entrance thesis on Ghost Envy was something she was extremely proud of and she'd enjoyed writing it. Plenty of people were developing paranoia and phobias that seem to stem from the rise in ghost sightings. Furthermore, helping Danny was something she'd been trying to do in one form or another for their entire lives and him becoming part ghost gave her more issues in his life that she wanted to help him deal with. Add in the fact that Vlad was, in the words of her brother, "one seriously crazed up fruit-loop" and the ghosts Danny fought didn't always seem completely sane… Well, she could certainly do a lot with the field and she was certainly that she could offer more insight than the average psychologist. She was raised by crazy people with issues concerning ghosts and was the sister of a halfa, after all. She could teach a class already at Yale about the insanity that can be

Her reflections on her future and how her family's business of ghosts may or may not factor into her career were abruptly derailed by the muffled sounds of her parents' worried voices. The fact she could hear them through two floors and the extreme shielding of the lab told her that they were yelling and things were very bad. The teenager bolted for the door of her room and ran to the stairs.

By the time she scrambled into the basement, Jazz was relieved to see that no one seemed to be hurt. Granted, her mom and dad were practically hovering around Danny, concern clearly painted on their faces, and her brother looked rather shaken, but no one was under attack and no one was leaking blood or ectoplasm. She took a moment to draw reassurance from that before diving right into the middle of things.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Danny responded hesitantly. "It was like someone cranked up my ghost sense to full power while shoving a distilled form of a horror movie marathon into my head at the same time. I don't know what it means, but I know it can't be good."

"You don't think you could be getting sick, do you?" Maddie asked, looking torn between placing her hand on his forehead to check his temperature and breaking out the ghost equipment to figure out if there was something wrong with the other half of her son.

As he opened his mouth, a pair of horrified screams erupted and two spectral vultures flew out of the Ghost Portal. Without sparing even a moment to look at the humans in the room, they took towards the skies and phased straight through the basement ceiling. A glowing green octopus quickly followed suit with a panicked look on its inhuman face. Finally, a large plant-like ghost that she recognized as Undergrowth poked his head through the portal, spotted soothing on the workbench, reached through, and deliberately sucked himself into the Fenton Thermos with a look of relief.

"And that wasn't ominous whatsoever," Danny muttered after staring at the spectacle for several moments.

"I have a feeling it wasn't just you," commented Jazz uneasily.

Their father, gaining an annoyed look on his face, marched over to the Ghost Portal and yelled, "Hey, this isn't a public service for all ghosts. Build your own portal and stop using ours."

"Something is definitely wrong," the dark-haired boy stated, staring at the portal. "They looked terrified. _Undergrowth_ looked scared. He's a giant unstoppable plant ghost. What scares him?"

"Weed killer?" suggested Jack, still eyeing the Ghost Portal suspiciously.

"What are you thinking, Sweetie?" Maddie asked.

"I'm thinking this is only the start. Remember when all those ghosts tried to escape Pariah Dark? Even though there were more coming through then, I don't remember them being so completely terrified. I mean, they even paused at least long enough to beat me up. These guys didn't even care we were here," he explained, gesturing at the portal and thermos as he spoke. "Something is coming. Something horrible. We need to prepare and we need answers."

He glanced at his sister and she gave him a supportive smile. She knew what Danny would need her to do. Being in two places at once was a skill that still eluded her brother, so he needed people who knew how to handle what he couldn't do personally. Jazz could at least do that much for him.

"I'll call Tucker and have him put out a mild ghost warning, call Sam and have her bring over possible research material, and I'll ask both to come over as soon as possible," she nodded. "We'll break out the ghost weaponry in the meantime just in case someone tries to do more than run away in panic."

"Better call Valerie too. She doesn't have to come over if she doesn't want to, but she deserves a heads up if things are about to get bad," he suggested.

"And what will you be doing while Jazz calls everyone?" asked Jack, tearing his attention away from the portal and towards his son with a look that hinted he was beginning to recognize that Danny planned on diving headfirst into something dangerous.

He gave his father a reassuring smile, "I'm just looking for some answers about what just happened and if it has something to do with freaking out the other ghosts."

"And where are you getting those answers?" asked Maddie, her parental instincts kicking in as well.

"Relax," he smiled. "I'm just going into another dimension inhabited by ghosts, who just rushed out in terror, in order to question either a yeti or the master of time. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I suggest Clockwork," said Jazz, remember his notes on different ghosts. "He seems to like you and he'll definitely know the answers. Frostbite might not. He isn't omniscient, after all."

"You know, normal families don't have these conversations," he muttered before giving his parents another reassuring grin. "I'll be fine. They're actually very nice. Granted, Clockwork was supposed to get rid of me to prevent a certain timeline at one point, but he didn't. See? Nice guy. I'll be perfectly safe. Trust me."

"We do," Maddie answered. "Completely."

Jazz wondered if her parents knew how much those words meant to her brother, especially after so much time hiding a secret from them no fourteen year old should. Somehow, between the honest smile that materialized on his face and the worried, but proud looks on their faces, she felt fairly certain they did.

Without having to hide or make excuses, Danny firmly announced, "I'm going ghost."

Rings of energy moved across her brother's body, shifting him from a superficially carbon-based life form to one with ectoplasm as the building blocks. A black jumpsuit with the white symbol replaced his ordinary clothes, his dark hair became snow white, and his bright blue eyes became a shade of green that literally glowed. But even with the changes, she could still see the brother she loved and was proud of. Some days, she was surprised that few people saw the similarity between Fenton and Phantom before they were told the truth. The only things she could figure out was that the confidence and bravery of Phantom took longer to be seen in Fenton, but the two began to bleed together in her mind long before she told him she knew his secret. So even with the ghostly hero standing there proudly able to share his true self with the people who matter to him, Jazz could just see Danny.

"I'll be back before you know it," he assured before diving into the Ghost Zone, his legs shifting into a ghostly tail as he disappeared from sight.

"He'll be fine," the teenager said quietly before heading back towards the stairs. "He can take care of himself."

Jazz knew her parents would be worried. They weren't used to the idea of their son battling dangerous ghosts and being in harm's way while they were standing mostly on the sidelines. It wasn't easy to handle. Jazz knew that. Even after all this time, she still worried about her little brother. Some things never change.

* * *

Tucker used to dream of having power, adulation, and being important. That desire began to burn brighter when his best friend became a superhero, but it began to seem that the spotlight was simply not meant for him. Then the Dis-asteroid happened and he was organizing resources from different nations in order to ensure the plan worked. He was rather surprised to learn he was good at it. Afterwards, he managed to somehow graduate from loser student techno-geek to mayor student techno-geek. He finally had power, adulation, influence, and almost everything he'd ever dreamed of. And he'd already decided not to run for a second term if he could help it.

While some of it was fun, like giving speeches people actually listened to, or important, like keeping the Guys In White at bay and ensuring that Danny's role as protector of Amity Park was officially recognized, the rest of the job was tedious and annoying. Most of his free time was gone, he didn't get to see his friends as much as he wanted to, and his new title came with more paperwork and boring meetings than he could count. Plus, he still had homework and a curfew his parents expected him to follow. Shouldn't the town leader get some leniency? He was already carrying the weight of the population of Amity Park on his shoulders and he didn't even get supermodels to cheer him on.

Glaring at a pile of paper that was supposed to convince him to cut school funding for technology purposes (like he'd ever sign anything anti-technology), Tucker began wishing for heat beam eyes. Burning the paperwork sounded so appealing sometimes. Of course, Sam would prefer it to be recycled and put to use as something beneficial, but watching the bureaucracy, politics, and general paperwork go up in flames would be so much more satisfying.

His mildly pyromaniac thoughts were interrupted by the sweet sounds of technology. Since his cell phone ringing would always win priority over daydreams of setting annoying paperwork aflame, he shoved his red beret back into place and answered his phone even as his grumpy and dowdy assistant glared at him.

"This is Mayor Tucker Foley, the youngest mayor of Amity Park and the surprisingly single young man available for any attractive ladies in need of a date," he greeted. "Can I help you?"

"Tucker, it's Jazz," the voice at the other end of the line stated. "We may have a slight ghost problem."

His mood quickly becoming more serious and his attention properly captured, he shifted out of his relaxed posture behind his desk and asked, "Could you define 'slight' in this case?"

"Something he can't explained freaked out Danny's ghost sense and almost immediately afterwards several ghosts dove out of the Ghost Portal like they were escaping the plague," she answered, her tone utterly flat. "We currently have Undergrowth hiding in the Fenton Thermos."

"That's a little more than 'slight' in my opinion," he responded, snatching up his PDA in his free hand.

"They aren't attacking. They're just running for their lives. Or afterlives. Whatever. Danny went looking for answers," continued Jazz. "And while they don't seem to be concerned with attacking right now, we thought you might want to put out a low-level warning since there are several ghosts in Amity Park at the moment and we don't need to cause a panic."

"At least until we know exactly how much we should be panicking," said Tucker, nodding to himself as he began pulling up familiar pages of information on his PDA. "Just between us, how bad do you guess this is going to be? One a scale from one to ten. One would be the Box Ghost and ten would be King Pariah tag teaming with the Dis-asteroid."

"Right now, it looks like a one or two. But between the behavior of the ghosts and my protective big sister sense, I think we're going to have an eight or nine at a minimum. Though I'll be very surprised if we don't at least have 'Amity Park pulled into the Ghost Zone again' level of bad by the end."

Trying to refrain from flinching at the older girl's prediction, he asked, "Want me to come over?"

"After you give a basic warning, yes. Mom and Dad are gathering the weaponry into easy reach and Danny's gone for the moment, but we should be ready by the time you're here. No matter what, Team Phantom will be prepared for it."

"You can count on me, General Jasmine," he grinned, resisting the urge to salute to the cell phone in his hand before ending the call. Turning towards his very confused assistant and still working on his PDA, he said, "Vicky, cancel all my appointments until further notice, tell them to go ahead with the request for funds for the school's technology, tell the Department of Power that the Fenton household may have to use most of the city's power in the near future and the electric companies should be prepared, call my parents and tell them I'm hanging out with Danny's, and set the Ghost Threat Level at One. Oh, and preorder that new upgrade for my PDA that's coming out next week. I don't want to miss it."

"I don't get paid enough for this," she muttered under her breathe, but the assistant proceeded to follow his directions.

One of the smartest things that the citizens of Amity Park ever did was agree on safety protocols for ghost problems and Tucker continued to build on those. That included installing Fenton Ghost Shields to protect the high school, the mall, Axiom Labs, and an emergency bunker under construction at the moment. The locations were scattered across the city and offered plenty of space for the population to take shelter against ghost attacks. There was a plan in place to move the elementary and middle school students to Casper High during serious emergencies. There was ghost insurance that could be bought to cover damages to someone's home, car, or mental health. But most important, there was a grading system of warnings so the population could easily know if they should just keep an eye out for floating objects, stay in their homes, or even run to the closest Ghost Shield.

Level One was considered rather ordinary by this point and wouldn't alarm anyone. They would simply be prepared if they bumped into a ghost somewhere in town. Level Five would basically be Pariah Dark and his skeleton army showing up again. Tucker desperately hoped it wouldn't come to that. Being mayor of this town wasn't for the faint of heart.

* * *

Sam absently toyed with the ring on her finger as she debated with herself about which film to watch. She'd seen most of the slasher movies in her collection recently and the more supernatural ones were too much like her life at times. And she'd claw out her own eyeballs before she sat through that vampire love story, "Late Evening," that her mother kept insisting was a reasonable compromise between romance and "that dark, depressing stuff Sammy-kins likes." It was badly written, the main girl was useless and pathetic, and the whole thing was just an excuse for the whiney vampire boy to hate himself and the whiney girl to uselessly obsess over him while neither of them demonstrated any personality beyond their insane love for each other. It was just so shallow and demeaning. No wonder Paulina loved the series; she'd even taken the time to read the book too.

About to settle for a generic action flick, but at least one with a strong female role, the television abruptly changed to a news break and Lance Thunder appeared on the screen.

"Mayor Foley has declared Amity Park in a state of Ghost Threat Level One," he announced. "For those who don't know, that means there has been a confirmed sighting or high probability of a ghost within city limits. There have been no indication of violent intent towards humans at the time or there is evidence that the specter is only interested in property damage on the minor scale and/or minor scare tactics. While there is no reason to change your routine for a Level One situation, be alert in case the ghost's behavior changes and be prepared to encounter the ghost just in case. Please use common sense. Do not approach a ghost, especially an unknown ghost. Do not attempt to become involved in a battle between ghosts. The best thing you can do is to stay out of the way of those who know how to handle ghosts. You will only get in the way of their efforts. I repeat, Amity Park is currently in a state of Ghost Threat Level One."

The report barely ended before her phone rang. Guessing that the two events might be related, Sam quickly answered it.

"Danny?" she asked.

"Jazz, actually," the voice at the other end of the line corrected. "We have a situation."

"I saw the news. A Level One on the Ghost Threat scale isn't a situation. That's a Tuesday night for us."

"It's actually a little more complicated than what the news report mentioned," the older girl remarked. "We don't know ourselves for certain what it is though."

"When do we? What do you need, research-wise?" Sam asked, mentally reviewing her collection of supernatural, mythological, and general dark Gothic topics that could be insightful in regards to unknown ghost problems.

"Something that could send ghosts running in terror," said Jazz. "Beyond that, we'll have to wait for Danny to get back with answers."

"Where is he?" she asked, frowning as she headed towards her room.

"He went to talk to Clockwork. Sam, I'm not sure what's going on and it really doesn't look that bad yet, but it feels like something horrible is coming. I don't have a ghost sense or anything, but I know those ghosts wee completely terrified. They ignored the whole Fenton family in the basement. Not to mention Danny's ghost sense went crazy before they showed up. I keep remember King Pariah and it feels like history repeating."

Snatching up promising-looking books and shoving them into her spider-shaped backpack, Sam said, "No one would be stupid enough to wake him up again, right?"

"Never underestimate the power of stupidity," muttered the older girl. "But we'll figure this out either way."

"Too bad the Fenton Ecto-Skeleton was destroyed. If it turns out to be Pariah's revenge or something, it would have been nice to have a back-up plan."

"Blame Vlad. He stole it, so we sort of destroyed it," Jazz stated. "So you'll come over?"

Smiling, Sam answered, "As soon as I can convince my grandma to play decoy for my parents."

"Don't get into too much trouble," warned the older girl over the phone. "Danny should be back close to when you arrive."

"Got it," she answered before hanging up the phone.

Yanking on her backpack, the Goth girl paused long enough to pull the Fenton Wrist Rays out of a drawer and strapped them firmly in place. They were the perfect accessory… of pain. Of course, they were only her second favorite accessory, but the "Wes" ring couldn't combat ghosts. Besides, the wrist-worn weapons went better with the Fenton Phones she quickly added to the ensemble like a pair of high-tech earrings. All she was missing was the Fenton Thermos to complete the ghost-hunting image.

"And Pauline says I can't be fashionable," she smirked, taking one final moment to admire the Fenton Wrist Rays before heading out the door.

* * *

Sneaking out to deal with ghost problems wasn't as easy as it used to be back when she first started, but Valerie refused to be completely stopped. Granted, she'd been cutting back some after meeting Dani and having her black and white view shaken. Then Vlad Masters, her original benefactor, turned out to be a ghost too and later tried to hold the planet for ransom essentially. If she ever needed proof that she hated being used and manipulated by that man, the mayor transforming in front of a crowd of people with a smug grin certainly gave her more than enough. Finally, learning that Fenton and Phantom were the same person put all of her patrols on hold for a while.

Black and white didn't work anymore. She couldn't draw a clear line of good and evil based on whether or not they were ghosts. While she found the term "halfa" to be rather uncreative, it did explain her problem. At least three people she knew were only half ghost. She could consider them half evil and decide that was enough to be on her wanted list, but they weren't just strangers. They were people she knew. Dani was just a little girl, spirited and sort of spunky, but still nice. Vlad was a lying, manipulative, heartless monster who didn't seem to care about hurting people once she saw past the polite and friendly façade. And Phantom himself…

Danny was the most complicated. She knew he and the dog ghost caused her father to be fired and she blamed him for a long time for the destruction of everything in her life. She hated the ghost boy and did her best to wipe him out of existence. Though, she grudgingly admitted at different points that he seemed to be trying to help and to talk sense into her. Her determined hatred and certainty of his crimes sustained her pursuit of Phantom long past the point she should have seen he wasn't like other ghosts. But Danny, the human, was almost the opposite. He was a nice guy, easy to get along with, funny, and almost painfully normal while still being interesting. Dating him was rather fun, even though she eventually called it off to protect him (and to let him and Sam figure out they belonged together). Who knew that the enemy and her ex-boyfriend were the same person? She both hated and liked him at the same time.

Valerie felt completely conflicted (and furious) for a while until she fully embraced the lesson she'd learned by meeting Dani. The world wasn't clear-cut and simple. It was a mixture of grays and contradictions. Danielle was both a ghost and a human, someone that couldn't easily be considered evil or destroyed. Vlad was both the one who helped her find her path and the one she would never trust again. And Danny was an imperfect hero, someone who tried to be good and yet could still make mistakes or be misunderstood. With her new understanding of the world, she could forgive Danny for the past. She just wasn't completely sure he could forgive her.

Shoving those thoughts to the back of her head, the brown-haired girl scribbled down a vague note for her dad. There was a ghost in town according to the news and her dad was at work. She couldn't ask for a better turn of events. Preparing to don her battle suit, the upgraded version rather than the one from Vlad, she was halted by the phone ringing.

"I'm not doing anything, Dad," she answered guiltily as soon as she picked up the phone.

"Glad to hear it, but I'm Jazz," the distinctly female voice replied. "I'm Danny's sister. We thought you should be at least warned about the situation. The news might say we're dealing with a minor ghost threat, but we think something big is coming. We don't know what, but be careful if you try anything."

Frowning slightly, Valerie asked, "Did Danny tell you to warn me?"

"Yes."

"Did he want to tell me anything else? Like to keep out of his way or that this is job for half ghosts?" she asked, feeling a little defensive. "Just because I don't have powers doesn't mean I'm staying on the sidelines, no matter how tough things get."

"He just said to give you a heads up and that you don't have to join us if you don't want to. He knows you can take care of yourself and that you'll be involved. He just wants to warn you to be careful since things might be about to get really bad. And you can come over if you want to help us. Sam and Tucker are coming. And as long as you don't aim at Danny, you're welcome on our team."

Valerie knew the older girl meant the last part as a joke to reassure her that there were no hard feelings, but she still flinched. The guilt of always treating someone who could have been an ally, a friend, and someone to trust like that still nipped at her when she thought of the past. Reflection on her actions towards Phantom with her new knowledge of his identity rarely left her happy. Knowing the ghost boy was Danny Fenton almost made her feel like a bit of a monster for trying to blast him to oblivion so often.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Valerie responded finally. "I'll be going solo on this. But thanks for the heads up."

"No problem," she answered. "But Valerie… If you ever need to talk to someone, I'll be happy to listen."

For a moment, the girl was confused by the offer. Then she remembered a long conversation she'd had with Danny and how his sister eventually came up. Apparently she wanted to be a psychologist. The offer was proof that Jazz probably wanted to honestly help. She simply wasn't a professional one yet. But, considering the last shrink Valerie talked to turned out to be an evil ghost, she couldn't make things any worse. Still, she didn't think going over her possible issues with the sister of her ex-boyfriend/ex-nemesis was such a great idea.

"I'll keep that in mind," she responded politely. "I've got to go. Thanks again, Jazz."

"Good luck."

* * *

Needless to say, finding out your younger child and only son wasn't completely human was a shock. Learning that he was now at least partially a species that you and your spouse studied and hunted, not to mention discovering that his condition was your invention's fault and that it was a repeated accident that did the same thing to a dear friend in the past, was enough to unsettle even the most confident person. Danny and Vlad becoming half ghosts were because of the Fenton Ghost Portals, the prototype and the later version. It was sheer dumb luck (or complicated scientific theories that would take time to understand) that neither of them was killed by the process. Their son could have died instead of becoming a hero who wanted to protect his hometown from danger. Between the knowledge they could have lost their younger child because of their invention and that he'd spent months lying because he was afraid of how they would react to his transformation wasn't easy for any parent to accept.

Adding in the knowledge that Vlad Masters, someone who was considered a friend of the family even when Maddie Fenton felt the occasional sense that something wasn't right with him, was also half ghost and spent so much time trying to get rid of Jack, force Danny to his way of thinking, and finally lashed out at her son once he lost all patience with him… Well, there was a lovely ecto-bazooka she'd been improving on that she'd love to test on him.

Her son was a strong, brave, responsible, and amazing young man. She just wished that she could have seen how much he'd grown sooner. She hated the fact that she and Jack made him feel like he couldn't come to them after he realized that he'd changed, that he didn't realize that they would love him whether he was completely human, completely ghost, or something in between. He was their _son_, no matter what he did or what happened to him or who he decided to become. She also wished that he didn't put himself in danger so often, both in the past and the present, but she accepted that she wouldn't be able to stop him. Hunting ghosts was just what the family did, even if he did it with self-generated ectoplasmic blasts and cryokinetic creations rather than technology. He was good at it and, considering the fact he'd explained he'd already been farther in space than most astronauts, he might easily choose to continue to fight ghosts as he grew up.

She loved her son. She was proud of him and all that he'd accomplished. She knew that he could take care of himself since she'd seen Danny Phantom doing just that multiple times before she knew the truth. And she didn't stop worrying a second after he plunged straight into the Ghost Zone.

A large part of that time was spent gathering the various weaponry and checking that it was perfectly functional for whatever might be in the future, the entire time silently reminding herself that Danny would be fine and almost certainly spent enough time in the Ghost Zone that the danger to himself would be minimal. Jack seemed to be a similar state of distraction at their son's absence until events decided to give them something better and more productive to focus on.

The first wave of ghosts fleeing through the Ghost Portal was not the last. Every few minutes, another group of them would fling themselves through before phasing through the ceiling, walls, or floor. Maddie and Jack quickly took up a defensive position in the lab and tried to blast any who came through. Most dodged the attack, a small number dove back into the portal, but the rest simply took the hit before sinking through the floor anyway. They didn't seem to be afraid of the married ghost hunters shooting at them. Or rather, they seemed more afraid of whatever was in the Ghost Zone than they were of whatever was waiting for them in the human world.

Smiling briefly to herself, she considered how odd it was that she was thinking about the feelings and thought processes of ghosts. From her son's stories about his various encounters with colorful-sounding characters such as Skulker, Ember, Technus, and the Box Ghost, it was easier to imagine them as individuals with their own quirks and motivations rather than identical figures with just cosmetic differences. That didn't stop her from wanting to blast them across the room alongside her husband, but it was still a difference from the past.

Some of the ghosts diving out of the portal desperately looked familiar. At least the one that looked like a green-skinned lunch lady tickled at her memory and Maddie knew the pale boy on the motorcycle with a green-haired girl was someone she'd seen before. Others were completely new and seemed surprised to find a pair of jumpsuit-wearing people firing at them as they tried to escape. Those seemed to be the easiest to hit with a weapon and Jack apparently was trying to keep score like it was a game.

It was a good thing that none of the escaping ghosts seemed to have violence on their minds. The Fenton Ghost Portal couldn't be shut down to stop them at the moment anyway. Not until Danny made it back…

* * *

Fear was an emotion often associated with ghosts. But normally, it was considered to be _caused_ by ghosts rather than to be experienced by them. At the moment, however, every inhabitant of the Ghost Zone was aware of two very important facts. One, something bad was coming. Even those who didn't know the stories or rumors from the distant past could tell that much. His awakening could be felt by every single ghost and a certain level of unease remained even after the initial wave of warning. The second fact that they all knew, without a shadow of a doubt, was that they needed to hide.

Some found secluded corners of the Ghost Zone, far away from where they knew he was probably still stirring into proper awareness. They curled up in these lost and forgotten places, through doors and behind floating chunks of land, and tried not to draw attention to themselves. Dark caves, endless abysses, and generally unpleasant places were easy enough to locate in the dimension, but trying to determine that they weren't inhabited by something that would lash out at unexpected guests certainly limited hiding places a little. But they were risking more hazardous locations if it might offer even the slightest safety from him.

Others were trying a different place to hide. Those ghosts were diving into any portal they could find. When a natural portal to the Human Realm formed, every specter within sight flung themselves through it without a single concern of where they might end up. More reliable portals, those that were permanent and were known to any ghost who dared risk detection by the infamous halfa, was preferred and instantly sought after by those closest to the location. After all, those were the only places where there was a reliable way back home to the Ghost Zone. Assuming that there would be anywhere to come back home to…

Finally, there was a small select group of insane ghosts who didn't want to run and hide. The wave of fear and dread that sparked off the knowledge to flee seemed to have angered a few, causing them to seek out the source of the disturbance and combat it. Prince Aragon, though thrust out of his role as ruler of his particular time-locked corner of the Ghost Zone by his sister after centuries of keeping her under his heel, was not one who allowed anyone or anything to dictate his actions. Fear from an outside source did not send him scurrying for a safe haven. It angered him. And since he took back the amulet that rightfully belonged to him, his fury manifested itself by turning him into a fierce creature.

The black dragon-shaped ghost flew through the Ghost Zone, moving in the exact opposite direction as the rest of the population. He was furious; Prince Aragon's temper was well known and dreaded by his former subjects. He bowed to no one and would not accept anyone or anything dictating his actions. Neither this dreaded awoken creature, his sister who pleaded for him to see reason, nor the black-and-white specter who followed Princess Dorathea around while lacking a spine of his own and asked the prince to remain for his sister's sake. Honestly, what did she think she was doing? Trying to rule _his_ kingdom and consorting with commoners who still measured their existence in decades? Whenever he finished dealing with his current foe, he would have to remember to remind his sister of her proper place.

Finding the formerly-slumbering enemy was far too easy for him. He could feel the dread building as he neared. Shadows continued to deepen as he neared, hiding away the ghost until only glowing red eyes and maybe the hint of an elongated face could be seen. Terror fought against the fury the burned inside Prince Aragon and, for just one moment, he wanted to flee far away from this place. Catching a glimpse of what might be a clawed hand, the dragon prince shoved those doubt away and began his attack.

Fire roared out of his mouth, pushing back the darkness slightly while seeking a way to injure the monster that was only whispered of in stories. The flames licked at the figure wrapped in the shadows, but didn't seem to do much more than distract. Tendrils of darkness lashed out, forcing the winged creature to fly around them.

Prince Aragon roared in defiance of the ghost commanding the shadows to strike against him, his fury and hatred not yet spent. A deep, menacing chuckle rose out of the darkness in response.

"If this is the best that this new age has to offer, I will be finished before a full moon has passed in the land of mortals," the deep voice remarked, teeth reflecting the light from the flames as Prince Aragon tried again.

His anger igniting further at the suggestion of being weak, the dragon charged straight into the deeper darkness intending to burn the bright red eyes out of their sockets. The attack was short lived as the tendrils of shadows struck him from every angle, skewering through the transformed prince. A flash of dark energy erupted out of the furious ghost, shifting him back to his humanoid form just long enough for him to break apart into pure ectoplasm.

The amulet that once hung around Prince Aragon's neck fell away, ignored by the red-eyed being. He had no interest in such tiny and useless trinkets. Somewhere out there must be a more entertaining opponent. Slaughtering the weak and puny was only interesting for so long.

**And another one bites the dust. While I probably won't get the chance to update so quickly like this again (I had a little free time), I hope you liked it. I'm sorry there wasn't a ton of action in this chapter, but I did try to establish how everyone has changed a little since the events of "Phantom Planet" while also calling in the cavalry. But it did involve the (quick) destruction of Prince Aragon, the evil brother of Dora. That's got to count for something, right? The next chapter should have a few answers for you. Like who exactly the mystery enemy is. **

**I always enjoy feedback. It helps motivate me and keep me writing. After all, it isn't like I get paid for this. Comments are the only form of payment I receive. Thanks.**


	3. Clockwork

**While I'd hoped for a little more feedback on the last chapter, I accept that it wasn't the most action-packed or exciting chapter ever written. Hopefully this one will make up for that by finally giving a few answers to what exactly they'll be facing. Plus, it has some more Clockwork and who doesn't like him? He's a very intriguing character, after all. **

The entrance to the clock tower that floated deep in the Ghost Zone was unlocked. Danny wasn't even slightly surprised by that fact. When planning an impromptu visit to someone who was capable of seeing all possible futures, they would almost certainly know about the coming arrival and could prepare accordingly before the decision to leave was even made. It was impossible to really surprise Clockwork. The fact the door was unlocked and waiting for the halfa to arrive didn't surprise him at all.

What did surprise him was the lack of aggressive ghosts he spotted during his travels from the portal to the domain of Clockwork. It wasn't like he went out of his way to spot other specters when he traveled through the Ghost Zone, mostly because they generally wanted to attack him, but he usually saw a few at a distance. In the past, he would simply have to out-fly them or hide behind a floating structure until they passed. This time, there were no ghosts that appeared to be simply minding their own business or plotting to attack Danny at any moment. The very few that he did see didn't even pay him the slightest amount of attention and kept flying away from _something_. The fear on their faces did little to ease him as he traveled to one of the few beings in the Ghost Zone who could both be considered an ally and would know the answers he needed.

The home of Ghost of Time was filled with cogs and gears that belonged in any traditional time-keeping device. There were constant tick-tocks that easily fit into the background, barely noticeable unless he was listening for them. The sounds were calming and the darkness that seemed to permeate every part of the Ghost Zone to an extent felt more protective than ominous. Between the rather soothing atmosphere of the clock tower and his knowledge that he was always welcome in this place, the halfa felt safe and peaceful whenever he came to visit.

Danny knew that, somewhere, there was a Fenton Thermos hidden and that inside was a monster from another timeline. Clockwork informed him of his evil future self's presence and that he accepted full responsibility for keeping him locked away for all of time. Danny didn't know whether to be nervous that his alternate self still existed in some form outside of time, guilty that someone else took responsibility for the older Phantom's existence, or relieved that he didn't have to bear the weight of guarding that particular thermos. But something about the slight smile on the calm and knowledgeable ghost's face made it easier to simply let Clockwork handle things and to forget about the thermos that was stored somewhere within the walls.

Danny felt himself drawn to the main screen used to view different places and times. There was one he considered the "main" screen, anyway. It was positioned to be the most easy to view without floating in midair, but there were plenty of others scattered between the pieces of clockwork that ticked and measured the passage of time around them. Briefly, he wondered why Clockwork would even need the viewing screens. True, they could act as portals to those time periods as Danny and his friends discovered during their first encounter with the ghost. But he also knew Clockwork could open portals to the past himself. So why would someone who already knew everything that was occurring (and did occur in the past, would occur in the future, and might have possibly occurred in another lifetime) even need a screen to view those events on? It wasn't like he seemed to have many friends who came over to watch the timelines with him and he didn't technically need them himself. So why did he have them?

Perhaps Clockwork wanted to sometimes _see_ something rather than just know it. He might want to observe it occurring, to see how events unwind and how people react, rather than just have an abstract and disconnected understanding of what happens. People watch movies, go to family soccer games, and play video games rather than just examine a summary of a sequence of events that describe what transpired. Maybe the Ghost of Time wanted to sometimes feel more involved and at least watching would make things feel more real. It had to be lonely being Clockwork and older than anyone else that seemed exist. Maybe the screens, showing people and ghosts as they go through their lives, helped keep the isolation at bay.

His contemplation of the thought processes that may or may not be going on in Clockwork's head was interrupted as he actually noticed the scene displayed on the viewing screen in front of him. It looked like the inside of a warehouse or shipping company. Either way, there were numerous packages stacked around the room. Peering more closely, he could make out windows that allowed in more light and Danny thought he could catch a glimpse of the ocean through them, but most of his attention was on the men scurrying around moving crates and large cardboard containers. Most of them looked rather stout and study, though there was the occasional younger man that was still skinny and gangly like a teenager. Each one, stubbornly carrying what appeared to be very heavy loads, was dressed in overalls and dark-colored knit cap that tugged at Danny's memory. He didn't know why though. Trying to wrack his brains for the answer, he watched the men carrying the heavy objects and stacked them in tall, neat, organized piles before walking out of view to pick up another load to repeat the process. There were voices, chatting, joking, and complaining about the weight of their various containers. One of the younger men, red-haired and freckled, was goofing around as he moved one of the containers and shoved it awkwardly against another stack. Danny was instantly reminded of the towers he would build out of blocks as a child and how one wrong hit could send even the sturdiest structure tumbling. He wasn't the only one who noticed the red-head's actions sent the stacked objects off-balance. Various voices rose in alarm as the other men saw the danger and, though the competing yells made it harder to pick out a specific speaker, Danny could have sworn he heard a familiar voice calling out something equally familiar…

As the heavy stacked containers began to tumble down towards the young man, surely only a little older than Danny himself, he caught a brief glimpse of a shape fling itself towards the endangered person before the screen went blank. Before the halfa could wonder about the images vanishing, a voice he knew he recognized drew his attention back to the rest of the room.

"It is very good to see you, Danny," Clockwork greeted, currently in the form of an old man.

"Hey," he smiled. "I guess it would be pointless to ask if I was intruding or came at a bad time. You would have already known I was on the way."

"True, but it is nice that you would think of it anyway," responded the ancient ghost. "I also know that this visit is not one of pleasure, but of business. You have a question you wish to ask me concerning a grave matter."

"Since you already know what I'm going to say, do I really need to ask?"

"Just because I know what the matter you wish to know about does not mean I do not appreciate conversation regardless. Visitors are not a common occurrence and I enjoy your company, even if circumstances for our encounters are rarely ideal," he said, shifting into his adult form and losing the long white beard in the process. "And before you apologize for not making the time for social visits, I understand the demands on your time are great and that you have been far busier than in the past due to the near destruction of the Earth recently. I was not intending to make you feel guilty, Danny. I was merely stating a fact."

Having indeed felt momentarily guilty that he didn't think of just visiting Clockwork when he wasn't in dire need of the Ghost of Time's help, Danny began, "Something happened not that long ago. It was like my ghost sense, only supercharged. And a lot of emotions kind of just hit me. I don't know what it was, but I could tell it meant something bad. Then a bunch of ghosts started trying to escape through the portal. What does it mean?"

"It means that someone is awake that has not been seen for thousands of years," he answered, his calm voice somehow sounding tired and disappointed. "He is one of the oldest ghosts in existence, though I am still technically his senior. What you and every other ghost felt was him awakening for the first time since he was forced into his slumber. It was a warning. While he only exists as a rumor because of how long ago it was when he last stirred, most ghosts have at least heard enough to know what they felt and to know how they should respond to his return."

"Great, we can add this to the ever-growing list that all ghosts should know, but no one ever seems to tell me ahead of time," Danny stated. "Like the Christmas truce. Or King Pariah. It would have been nice to have heard about that guy before he came charging into my town."

Shifting into his infant form, Clockwork said, "He is from before Pariah Dark's reign. His name was whispered in fear for quite some time until even humans with a vast curiosity for the dead heard it. Granted, they did not know the details and assigned many false facts to the name, but they understood that ghosts feared him and what he would do should they encounter him."

"What is his name?" he asked.

"Ammit," answered the specter, gesturing towards the main screen with his staff.

An image appeared as Danny looked into what he knew to be the past. The darkness seemed absolute with only the faintest hint of green glow to show that it was the Ghost Zone. Staring harder at the scene, the boy could almost make out a shape in the shadows. There definitely seemed to be bright red eyes, maybe a hint of an elongated mouth, four limbs, and claws. He was almost certain there were claws. But the shadows seemed to cling to the figure, resisting the normal green glow of the Ghost Zone completely. Still, compared to some of the enemies he'd faced, Danny didn't see what the real threat was. He didn't _see_ it, but he could feel it. Across time and space, he could sense that the shadowy figure was the most dangerous thing he'd ever encountered. The boy resisted the urge to shudder.

"Those humans, while getting so many details wrong when they heard of him, did understand his deadliness. The Egyptians called Ammit 'the Devourer of the Dead' and 'the soul-eater.' While not a perfect description, it serves to demonstrate the danger. Death does not come easy to ghosts, but Ammit found it quite easy to accomplish and sought to kill any he might encounter, human or ghost."

Danny watched the screen as other ghosts came into view of the shadowy shape. Some tried to attack, but black tendrils burst out of the general aura of shadows. The darkness pierced the ghosts and they vanished into green ectoplasm. The boy shuddered at the familiarity of the sight; it looked exactly like what happened to Dani. Some of the specters managed to dodge the first attack, but those were taken out by those claws that slashed in concert with the tendrils of shadows. The ghosts looked so terrified and desperate as they tried to fight the larger figure, as if they knew they would be destroyed and still fought because there was no other choice.

"So a ghost who can kill other ghosts," Danny muttered under his breath. "And powerful enough that him waking up sends everyone running for safety. He'll come after us, won't he? Not just everyone in the Ghost Zone. You said he'll kill humans too."

"He is very powerful," Clockwork nodded, changing from infant to old man as if the grave news he was delivering was the cause of his aging. He floated next to the younger ghost and placed a hand on Danny's shoulder. "And he seeks a challenge. Killing a weak target does not bring him as much pleasure as one who can still struggle against him. Ammit will kill them regardless, but he will look for stronger ghosts so that their demise can be drawn out. He will know that many will seek shelter in the human world and so he will try to follow them in search of more interesting foes. He will also learn of your existence and, whether you realize it at times or not, you are stronger than your harmless appearance would suggest. He will come after you because he will think you will provide a slight challenge."

"As if I don't get enough of that kind of attention from Skulker," he tried to joke, but he couldn't really put the effort into it.

Watching the screen as the shadow-enshrouded shape slaughtered countless ghosts in the distant past left Danny uneasy. The presence of Clockwork's hand on his shoulder was a slight comfort at the moment, which was probably why the omniscient specter placed it there in the first place. He could see exactly why all those feelings of fear and dread washed over apparently ever ghost in existence when Ammit awoke. He was an unstoppable monster.

On second thought, perhaps not completely unstoppable…

"You said he was asleep for thousands of years, right?" asked Danny. "That someone forced him into slumber? How? How did someone stop him in the past and can we do it again?"

"Observe," Clockwork commanded, gesturing back towards the screen with his staff.

As he watched, it began to become clear that the ghosts that were throwing themselves at the shadowy shape weren't doing it simply because there was no better plan. They were trying to keep Ammit busy and distracted. Peering closer, Danny could make out a few new figures entering the scene. Several were wearing purple robes similar to the one worn by the ghost beside him. Another was grey-skinned and looked to be carrying a hammer and anvil casually under one muscular arm, wearing only a short loincloth made of brown leather. Yet another was terrifyingly familiar.

"Pariah Dark?" he asked.

"Yes. Before he was trapped himself in an eternal slumber, before he even considered becoming ruler of the Ghost Zone, Pariah Dark was simply a powerful ghost. And his strength was greatly needed at that time, so myself and others sought out another, Wayland the Smith, who could craft objects of tremendous power and thus the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire were forged. Even Pariah's power alone would not be enough to defeat Ammit, so the objects would increase that strength so that he might have a chance to weaken him just enough to be contained."

"Wait, did you say you were there too?" asked Danny. "I mean, I know you were around somewhere back then, but you were involved in solving this?"

"Yes, I was there. It was too important a task for me to remain neutral."

As the boy watched, he saw one of the purple robed beings shift into a smaller shape, identifying that ghost as Clockwork changing into his infant form. Danny peered closer at the image, trying to see the familiar features hidden beneath the hood and the surrounding shadows. There was just so much to observe, he couldn't focus on Ammit, the ghosts being easily destroyed, Pariah Dark, or the past version of Clockwork without another aspect of the scene capturing his attention. But as he caught a glimpse of the Ghost of Time's face, Danny could see that there was something different about it. Not to mention something looked off about Pariah Dark too.

"The eyes," the halfa muttered.

There was something wrong with both of their eyes. Pariah Dark didn't have an eye patch on his face and the past version of Clockwork didn't have a scar. The same scar that Danny would see on all three forms of the ancient ghost. He never wondered in the past what could leave such a mark on a ghost who knew everything, but the absence in the image left him curious.

As he watched, Pariah Dark moved through the shadowy murk and batted away any tendrils of darkness with his mace. The other ghosts, those wearing the purple robes, quickly followed after him while deflecting other vine-like pieces of shadow from stabbing someone. The fact they weren't instantly killed demonstrated that they were too powerful, too organized, or both to be an easy target.

"Why didn't you stop time?" Danny asked as he saw the past version of Clockwork dodge a tendril of darkness without any apparent notice of the threat.

"Ammit's danger is not just his strength or his ability to slaughter ghosts with barely any effort. Certain stronger and more… _specialized_ powers cannot affect him," explained the present Clockwork. "If I should stop time, he would continue forward as if he wore one of my medallions. Ember McLain would not be able to control him with her music nor would Kitty be able to banish him to another dimension with a blown kiss. Nocturne would not be able to send him into a deep slumber. Attacks of ecto-energy and those powers that work on other objects can still be used to combat him. Pariah Dark's strength is based upon those forms of combats and that was part of the reason why he was chosen to face Ammit. Your powers will also work."

"At least there's that little bit of good news," he said. "So you went in there, unable to stop or rewind time properly, and tried to fight someone who goes around killing ghosts for fun? At least you'd still know how to avoid the worst possibilities, right?"

"I knew exactly what the consequences of my actions would be," stated the ghost in a calm tone, shifting to his ancient form.

Danny watched as Pariah Dark reached the dark figure in the center of the shadows, trying to decide if he should be rooting for Ammit or his opponent. The fire-haired figure pounded at the large ghost with his mace while shadows and claws slice at him in response. Rather than pick between his past and future opponents, he focused on the unscarred version of Clockwork that slipped past another questing dark tendril that tried to pierce him. Nothing could touch him because he always knew exactly what the future held.

"While Pariah, myself, and other strove to weaken and distract Ammit, Wayland was to craft an object that would force him into slumber. There was not enough time to create a container for his power such as the sarcophagus later used against King Pariah. Instead, it was a more fragile creation that would serve our purpose."

A quick glance showed the grey-skinned ghost smashing his hammer against his anvil. Each impact produced a gold glow that continued to grow brighter with each hit. While not the best at school, Danny was almost certain that there should be some sort of metal on the anvil to be forged.

Switching his attention back to the battle itself, the boy saw that Pariah was having a difficult time with his opponent. Even with the other ghosts deflecting some of the shadowy tendrils that surrounded Ammit, the fight wasn't easy. And considering what Danny recalled of his own experience with King Pariah, that didn't fill him with confidence.

Abruptly the past Clockwork grabbed Pariah and pulled him back, just as a particularly quick tendril of darkness slashed at them. Even from his angle of observation, Danny could see they didn't get off completely unharmed. Both of them clutched at their faces. Unwilling to halt even after the injury, Pariah swung his mace with his free hand and managed to strike the shadowy figure in what appeared to be the head.

Before Ammit could recover from the hit, a final impact of Wayland's hammer rang out loud enough to drown out even the ticks in Clockwork's domain. The glow produced shaped itself into a golden orb and the tendrils of darkness stopped moving. The bright red eyes slowly closed, the owner apparently falling into the promised slumber. The other ghosts drew away cautiously from the formerly-deadly enemy.

"So that's how you stopped him the first time," Danny said carefully. "And where Pariah lost his eye, I take it?"

Dissolving away the scene from the main screen, Clockwork nodded, "He did not come out of that battle unmarked. Nor did I, as you have noticed." He pointed towards the scar near his eye as she shifted to his adult shape, clearly recognizing the question the boy didn't want to ask directly. "I knew I would be injured if I wish to keep Pariah alive and he was the only one who could strike Ammit hard enough to stun him. Victory often involves risk and sacrifice, as you know very well. I knew what the ideal future would require and found it to be an acceptable price."

Danny gave him a small smile, "I'm sure you knew exactly what you were doing back then. But what about now? Is that Wayland still around to make another Golden Globe of Bad Guy's Knock-out or something?"

"No," he answered, his voice still calm and controlled. "He was lost to us long ago, during the reign of King Pariah."

"Well, how about we go back in time and pick him up?" suggested the boy. "I know you're really serious about the whole 'find answers in the present instead of changing the past,' but this is sort of an emergency. If he's as bad as you say, we'll need all the help we can get. We could go borrow Wayland from the past so he can put him to sleep again. Or we could go back in time and try to beat this Ammit guy while he was sleeping. Or simply go back to keep him from waking up in the first place." Danny knew the older ghost wouldn't be happy with those types of plans, but he honestly didn't look forward to facing an awake and aggressive version of the creature he'd seen in the past. "Please, can we just _try_ fixing the past to prevent complications in the present? I mean, you said you exist in all times or something like that. Can't you just consider that the present and this as the future?"

"I _could_," Clockwork responded, something in his normally calm tone making Danny nervous. "I could go back to the point where Ammit first came into existence, before he was able to truly become a threat. Perhaps I could arrange another aggressive ghost to attack him before he learned how to defend himself? But why limit myself? The Fright Knight was the one who awoke him. Perhaps I could prevent him from being released in the first place? If Vlad Plasmius were not to awaken King Pariah, then the knight would not fall under the older halfa's influence."

He gestured at the screen, the movement sharper than Danny was used to seeing from Ghost of Time. The hand was no longer resting comfortingly on the boy's shoulder. Instead, he was pointing at the forming images on the screen. The scene was a familiar one; his parents and Vlad working on the original Ghost Portal in college.

"Perhaps a slight short circuit of the equipment to keep it from activating to give him his powers?" suggested Clockwork, his voice tense. "It would make your life easier, would it not? And it would not affect your father instead if the device did not activate at all. Or maybe a different adjustment? One where Vlad Masters did not survive his encounter with the invention?"

He waved his hand again and the scene changed once more. This time it showed the Fenton basement. Sam was urging the past version of Danny to investigate the Ghost Portal, the accident that changed his life moments from unfolding.

"Maybe you consider my methods to be too subtle? I could have handled your darker future in a different method, one that did not involve me taking charge of your older self for all eternity? A malfunction in the activation? Instead of becoming empowered, the more likely outcome of your death could be easily arranged," he stated, his voice cold and harsh.

Danny resisted the urge to start backing away from someone he considered an ally and, maybe, a friend. The controlled and relaxed tones were gone. The red eyes that always seemed encouraging now stared at him mockingly as he discussed how easy it would be to kill the halfa. It was chilling. It reminded her far too easily of how Clockwork seemed when he first met the ghost and thought he was an enemy.

"And if I find that too messy? There are other options," he continued, gesturing at the screen again.

This time, the boy didn't recognize the scene. But he could see his mother tucking in a small red-haired child. Danny almost didn't realize that it was his sister. She was so small and cute as their mother placed a soft kiss on Jazz.

"Perhaps your parents could be distracted that evening. It would not take much. If your mother suffered slightest delay at returning to her room where your father waits, it would be enough. They might still have a child and it might even be a son, but it wouldn't be you. It would be another child, with slightly different genes and a different life. There would be no Danny Fenton and no Danny Phantom."

Clockwork stretched out a hand, as if he fully intended to reach through and cause that distraction. Danny knew that a ghost popping into Jazz's room would be enough to keep his parents busy all night. It _would_ be very easy for a ghost with the ability to affect time to arrange events so he was never born.

The boy couldn't help shuddering as he noticed the expression on the Ghost of Time's face, eyes glowing brighter than he ever recalled and a hint of a dark sneer that looked more appropriate on Vlad's features than on Clockwork's. While Danny normally viewed the ghost's behavior towards him as parental (or grandparental), but now he was afraid of how dangerous it would be to have Clockwork as an enemy. He seemed to be looming over the boy, glaring at him as if he was considering exactly how insignificant and mortal Danny truly was. As if all of the halfa's years of life, however few they might be, were on display at once for him to view and found the boy's existence to be found wanting. It was one of the scarier things he could remember seeing. And considering he could very easily be about to be wiped from existence, Danny felt that being afraid was a reasonable reaction.

Then, all the aggression and the Vlad-levels of "mad with power and unconcern with anyone else" evaporated without a trace. His eyes dimmed back to the normal, warm and comforting shade. A small smile, both sad and apologetic, replaced the more discomforting expression. He no longer loomed over Danny nor looked at him in such a way that the boy felt completely vulnerable and inadequate. The older ghost didn't try to approach the halfa though, clearly knowing exactly how his earlier behavior unnerved the boy.

"Now you see why I have to be careful about interfering too much. The temptation to change the timelines can easily lead to more and more alterations until I have shaped all events to my preference, destroying all hints of free will. There are always consequences for one's actions, Danny. Even for myself," stated Clockwork in a weary voice, changing into an infant that looked far too burdened by reality. "I know that you understand this lesson very well. Great power requires great responsibility because it also brings great temptation. Power corrupts those who do not guard against those temptations and absolute power can corrupt absolutely. I know every possible timeline. That means I have intimate knowledge of what I can become if I do not take care, Danny. I have seen many cases where I become a monster that would give even your darker future self nightmares."

The calm and control was back in his voice, but Clockwork sounded so tired. The small display of what an evil version of the Ghost of Time could be like was terrifying to witness, and yet Danny couldn't help feeling sorry for the omniscient specter. Danny only saw one evil version of himself in one possible future. There was no guessing how many evil versions of Clockwork there were out there in the different timelines and all of them would be known to the ghost in front of him.

Not knowing what else to do, but wanting to offer a hint of support to the ghost who was in many cases a good person he could count on, Danny placed his hand on Clockwork's shoulder as the older specter morphed into an old man. The boy even gave him a weak smile of encouragement, though it wasn't as strong of an expression as it would have been before the demonstration of how easy it would be to wipe someone out of existence.

"I know my limitations," continued Clockwork. "I interfere with the past as little as possible and I try to avoid directly affecting the timeline as much as possible. When I do act, I must make sure that it does not lead to those futures were I become just as dangerous as any of your other enemies. Even good intentions can lead to devastation. Problems of the present should be repaired in the present. There is nothing wrong with learning from the past, but the answers to the current crisis do not wait for you there."

"If the answers aren't there, then why show me that scene at all?" he asked.

"Because you need to know what you will be facing and exactly what he is capable of. You need to know that you will not be able to face him alone if you wish to succeed," answered the older ghost. "And you need to understand that I cannot help you directly. I know you rarely expect or hope for my interference and it is wise for you not to expect it, but I also know that you will hope for it against this opponent before the battle is finished and you need to know that my powers over time will not touch him. Everyone has their limits."

Resisting the urge to sigh, Danny nodded solemnly, "I understand. Thank you for helping at least this much then. I guess it's better than flying in blindly. Is there anything else that you can do before I go?"

"I can tell you he will reach Amity Park at 1:42 PM tomorrow, but his influence will be noticeable before that point," said Clockwork. "I can also give you one piece of advice. I urge you to pay attention to it and keep it in mind regardless of what you encounter or how much you wish to ignore my words."

"Why would I want to ignore your advice? Considering you know everything, that seems kind of stupid. That's something _Dash_ would do."

Smiling kindly at the boy, the older ghost said, "No matter what you might think of them or how you might feel about dealing with them, accept any offer of help that you might receive for this coming encounter. The one offering or the form their assistance might take do not matter. Accept help in any capacity they might suggest."

Frowning now in confusion, Danny asked, "Why in the world would I be crazy enough to turn down help?"

"Those offering their help may not be who you expect. And the help they will offer might not seem useful at the time. But you must accept it if you want to succeed, Danny."

About to remind him that he'd teamed up with all the ghosts in the Ghost Zone in order to save the world already and thus accepting help from unusual sources wasn't that hard, Danny reminded himself that the ghost he was talking to knew that perfectly well. If Clockwork was making a point to tell him to accept help, then there was a strong possibility that he needed that reminder to accept it. He didn't do things for no reason. Unnecessary warnings and random chance didn't occur around a ghost who knew everything.

That last thought concerning random chance stopped Danny before he could leave. Curiosity quickly combined with the knowledge that Clockwork could have been waiting for the halfa at the front door rather than let him wander around a few minutes before showing up, forcing the boy to ask one last question rather than leave immediately to prepare for the arrival of a supremely powerful ghost.

"Earlier, when I first got here, there was a scene on your window to the past. Or future. Or whenever it was," he explained, trying to organize his question properly. "I wouldn't have seen that unless you wanted me to. You're not the type of person who wanders off while leaving the television on. There was a red-haired young man who was moving boxes and it looked like he was about to be crushed. Who is he? Or who was he? Or who will it be?" Danny frowned, "Time travel makes it really hard to talk straight."

"It was a scene from the past of an ordinary young man named Tony Murphy. Perhaps a little reckless at the time, but he was young and did not think of consequences," answered Clockwork calmly, shifting into his adult shape. "For the most part, he was completely average in every manner you could imagine."

"What happened to him?"

Adopting a rather knowing smile, he said, "A more experienced co-worker, one that was neither respected nor paid attention to before that point by anyone, saved him from being crushed by the falling containers at the cost of his own life. The shock of having someone make that sacrifice, let alone someone who he and others barely noticed before, forced Tony to mature and grow into a better person. He took responsibility for his life and tried his best to no longer overlook those around him. Further along the time line, he found a wife and they had a child that would have never existed if Tony was killed in that accident. The child, a daughter, would someday have children of her own and so on. Each member of that family would make choices and influence the world in ways, some large and some barely noticeable. A few would, or rather _will_, save other lives either directly or indirectly. Doctors, inventors, police officers, and simply caring people will all be able to trace their ancestry back to that single red-haired young man. None of these things would ever occur if their reckless ancestor was crushed beneath the weight of those boxes. A single choice by an ignored soul made all the difference."

Raising an eyebrow, Danny asked, "So was it supposed to be another example of how easy it can be to change the future or does Tony and family have some kind of effect on what is coming? I mean, do one of them figure out a way to defeat Ammit? Is that why you let me see that glimpse of the past?"

"I suppose it would be closer to the former reason. Do not underestimate someone or something because they are easy to ignore, seemingly unimportant, quiet, subtle, or apparently harmless. It can be rather surprising how little it takes to alter fate," he stated. "And it is interesting how you are making the same mistake that so many others have. You focused on Tony, but you did not even ask about or consider the one who saved him." Before the boy could say another word, Clockwork said, "I believe it is time for you to return home. There is much to be done before Ammit arrives in Amity Park. Remember my advice, Danny."

The Ghost of Time then phased through the floor, leaving the boy alone.

* * *

The Box Ghost knew it was a bad idea. While perhaps not the best at planning or devising evil schemes that would bring his opponents to their knees, he could recognize that his idea was beyond insane. It would be far safer short term to stay hidden in a nice warehouse with all the boxes he could find to keep him company.

Unfortunately, he knew that hiding would solve nothing in the long term. Action must be taken. Swift and decisive action that would prevent all ghosts from suffering a non-container related doom. And no matter how much he would want to believe otherwise, the Box Ghost knew that he wasn't the one who could stop the one who was coming. The half-remembered stories and rumors about Ammit made it clear that anyone who got in his way was almost guaranteed a permanent end to their existence. He knew he couldn't survive someone like that.

But he did know someone who might just be able to pull it off. Someone who faced ghostly opponents on a regular basis, fought King Pariah directly, and managed to figure out a way to keep Earth from being smashed by an asteroid. Not only would someone like that have a better chance than anyone else at surviving an encounter, but he was also the hero type who wouldn't be able to resist the urge to save the day. All that he had to do was fly up to the guy and tell him about the problem.

There was, however, the part of the insanity. Going up to the guy without any box-related plans to enact was practically begging to be sucked into the thermos. Not to mention his family was a bunch of ghost hunters. The Box Ghost wasn't above facing a challenging foe, but even he wasn't crazy enough not to realize how easily it could all go wrong. He'd have to be cautious about his approach. He would have to wait until he was close to the halfa before he revealed himself in order to deliver his news of impending doom.

And that was exactly why he was approaching the Fenton household while invisible and intending to come through the roof rather than any other method. No one would suspect a thing.

The house was very easy to spot, even if he didn't already know the location due to the number of times he'd slipped through the Ghost Portal. Skipping past the larger structure on top of the building, the Box Ghost phased through until he was inside the home. Before he could move on, however, his attention to his mission was pulled away as he realized he'd ended up in a small storage closet. And in the storage closet was a collection of boxes.

Grinning to himself, the specter decided Danny Phantom could wait a _few_ minutes. At least until he had the chance to investigate the contents of these wonderful cardboard containers in front of him. He could rearrange the stacks into sturdy, neat little piles afterwards and then he could warn the boy about the approaching doom to all. A short wait couldn't hurt. The boxes were just too tempting to ignore.

**Okay, I really don't think there will be another quick update like this. I've just had a lot of luck lately at having time to write for this. **

**And before I have a bunch of people who like mythology screaming at me about how Ammit isn't like what's been described so far, I would like to point out that accuracy isn't exactly a high priority for "Danny Phantom." In mythology, Pandora didn't have four arms, didn't make the box to contain the evils of the world, and wasn't a warrior type at all. She was a girl who opened a box when she shouldn't have and released all the evils into the world, but managed to close it fast enough to keep hope contained so humanity would have at least that much. Basically, the Ghost Zone version of mythological entities varies from those of human stories. And in Ammit's case, he sort of inspired humans instead of being formed by their imagination. Thus, it makes sense that there would be even more differences between the two.**

**I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Remember, reviews about what you think are deeply appreciated. Zero reviews for chapter two is a little disappointing, after all. Even a short review would be nice. I just want to know what you think of the story. Thanks.**


	4. A Gathering Of Ghosts

**Thanks for the reviews, people! I like hearing your opinions, theories, and questions. They help keep me motivated to work quickly. Apparently you found my portrayal of Clockwork to be entertaining and interesting. I hope you'll have similar opinions concerning the other characters. I swear, researching appropriate slang from the fifties for Poindexter and seventies for Ember is more trouble than it's worth. I should have just re-watched "Back to the Future" to pick up some phrases. But it was part of the funniest aspect of Sydney Poindexter, so I had to include it.**

**Now, on with the show!**

He didn't consider himself a leader. He was a lone hunter, stalking his prey with only his skills with weaponry and wits to depend on. But in a crisis, he could bark orders loudly enough to restore some form of structure and he could direct angry and frightened forces towards a single goal. But he didn't seek leadership and the responsibilities in brought.

But Skulker found himself in that pseudo-role again and tried to make the best of it. Ember flew next to him, her face an equal mixture of stubborn determination, rebellion, and unease. Trailing slightly behind him was Technus, strangely silent. Both of them kept looking to him for direction, wanting him to lead during this dangerous time. At least Ember looking at him like that made some sense, though his girlfriend tended to be more independent. Technus, on the other hand, just randomly bumped into the fleeing couple and decided to join their mad quest. It wasn't much, but Skulker would lead the small group through the insane venture.

A sound captured the hunter's attention and he stopped immediately behind a small floating chunk of land, signaling his companions to follow his example. Something told him that it wasn't Ammit, but Skulker didn't let his guard down. None of them were around when Ammit was last lurking around. Depending solely on rumor and myth to plan a hunt (or how to avoid becoming the hunted) was foolish. Skulker began charging his weaponry, Ember held her pick over the guitar strings in preparation to play a chord, and Technus glanced around anxiously in search of some form of technology to use.

As the source of the noise drew near, it became more recognizable and less than threatening. Sobbing accompanied by constant reassurance rarely came from dangerous sources. Skulker lowered his weapon as a black-and-white teenager floated into view while patting the shoulder of a crying blond young woman. The boy, wearing glasses and looking as if he'd stepped out of a photo from the fifties, still gave off the loser impression that his human self did to the extent that the hunter was resisting the urge to find a locker to stuff him in. The young woman, her appearance suggesting an age of late teens or early twenties while her attire matched the Middle Ages, wore her hair pinned against her head and a necklace around her neck. Neither looked threatening, though Skulker knew the girl possessed a fiery temper. Generally, he would ignore these two meek ghosts, but these weren't normal times.

"Poindexter," he growled in greeting. "Princess Dorathea. What are you doing so far from your territories and could you stop that noise? Stealth is important for hunter and prey alike, so I don't appreciate you drawing everyone's attention with that crying."

Rather than cringing like his general demeanor would suggest, the monochromatic ghost placed himself in between the hunter and the upset green-skinned specter. The withering glare probably would have worked better if Skulker wasn't so much larger and Poindexter looked less harmless. The urge to do something humiliating to the teenager remained strong and he resisted only because tormenting such weak prey would be completely unsporting. Not to mention juvenile.

"She's _upset_, Skulker," the black-and-white ghost stated. "Don't be a bully and make it worse. Her square of a brother, Aragon, decided to wig out and ran off to fight Ammit."

"Is he crazy?" asked Ember. "That's a one-way ticket to oblivion."

"Even I, Technus, Master of all Technology, would hesitate to face such a foe alone," announced the specter.

"Hence why she's upset," said Poindexter. "She saw him through a far-out crystal ball and he's gone. Permanent-like."

While not one to pity others, Skulker couldn't help flinching slightly. It was far too easy to imagine him or Ember suffering a similar fate. No one would be safe as long as Ammit was free. There were only a few clear options when faced with such impossible odds. Run and hide or fight and die.

Or find a third choice.

"I know my brother was not necessary a good person," the sniffling specter admitted.

"He was a hot-headed, heartless bully who treated you like a mindless servant and not the swell girl you are," Poindexter said firmly. "Dora, he was awful to you and you had to kick him off the throne because he was just bad news."

"But he was still family and I loved him," she said. "Even after centuries of putting up with his cruel and restrictive treatment, I didn't wish such a fate on him. No one deserves such a thing."

"So what are you and the dork doing out here instead of weeping at home over your creep of a brother's dumb move?" asked Ember. "Isn't that what you medieval-welcome-mat women are supposed to do?"

We are planning to ask for the aid of someone who helped us in the past," Dora explained. "He and his companions helped me gain the confidence to overthrow my brother in the first place."

"And he helped me stop being the most picked on kid in the school," added Poindexter.

"Wow, he _is_ a miracle worker," Technus said, displaying both sarcasm and no control of his voice's volume.

"Hey, don't let your ponytail and sunglasses fool you," stated Ember. "You're almost as big a dork as the bucked-tooth kid. So don't start getting all high and mighty. Me and Skulker will leave you behind if you annoy the rest of us with your ego. Got it?"

Considering her hair flared rather brightly with annoyance and Technus lacked any real technology to defend himself if left alone, the specter quickly nodded his agreement and fell silent.

"We seem to share a similar goal and thought process concerning Ammit," Skulker said, focusing on the pair of newcomers. 'The whelp is a formidable opponent and he has a history of defeating even the most dangerous enemies. He also tries to act as the hero, protecting others from aggressive ghosts. There is little chance he'll ignore Ammit's awakening. An appeal for him to face this new foe will undoubtedly be answered, especially if we bring ghosts he has helped in the past to ensure he listens before sucking us into that cursed thermos."

"So the plan is for us to cower behind Danny Phantom while he faces an unstoppable enemy on his own?" asked Dora, tears gone for the moment.

"That's the plan, Princess," nodded Ember. "He takes the brunt of the attacks and we have time to run if it goes badly. Do you have a better idea?"

"Honestly, you call yourself 'ghosts'?" Poindexter asked, frowning and crossing his skinny arms. "At least you fought alongside the halfa against King Pariah's forces. He's called on us for assistance before, but he doesn't expect us to do everything on our own. That's the difference between tutoring a jock and doing his homework for him so he doesn't give you a wedgie in addition to stuffing you in a locker."

"There is no honor in your plans," added Dora.

"Survival is more important than honor," Skulker barked. "I refuse to end up a pelt on the wall of Ammit's home. You might want to consider that so you don't share your brother's fate."

This time, it was the blond ghost who flinched. In addition, both Ember and Technus gave the hunter a look of disbelief that he would say such a thing. Skulker knew it was a low blow, but none of them would disagree that Prince Aragon's decision to fight and the results could easily occur to any of them. He knew when he couldn't win. It went against his nature to simply give up and hide. That was the behavior of the hunted instead of the hunter. It also went against his nature to act stupidly enough to be destroyed by an undefeatable opponent. At least against King Pariah, there was a small chance of victory. Against someone like Ammit, the best they could do would be to toss the ghost child at him and hope for that they remained safe.

"I'd hate to bring down all of you, but we're all going to end up like Aragon if we don't do something," stated Poindexter. "He's like the bully to end all bullies. He won't stop until everyone is gone. You can still feel it, can't you? That creeping fear at the back of your mind that keeps telling you that you can't escape? It wasn't just one hit of terror and then it was over. It stays in your head. Jeepers, it still scares me. But I've spent a lot of time dealing with smaller fears and dreads, like what the next prank might be or what the students at my school will do to me because they'll think it's a blast. My human self put up with it until he couldn't anymore and I've dealt with it until my encounter with Danny. I know fear and dread very well. I can ignore that fear he put in all of our heads. At least, I can ignore it enough to think clearly."

As the black-and-white teenager spoke, Skulker realized grudgingly that the unease that remained from Ammit's awakening and his knowledge of the ghost was affecting his decisions more than they should. He knew that his behavior was going against his nature. They were still huddling behind a chunk of rock, like cowering rabbits. It wasn't right. That dread of what was seeking them shifted into anger against the one who sought to turn the great hunter into prey. The hunter hated to admit the skinny bespectacled ghost was right, but Poindexter was making sense. Even if Skulker still wanted to pin him in place with a crossbow again.

Continuing with his attempt as making a dramatic speech, Poindexter asked, "Ember, you want people to remember you. You want them shouting your name and to admire you. Wouldn't you rather be remembered as someone who helped stop Ammit than to be remembered as the girl who split when things get tough?" Turning towards the technopathic specter, he said, "And you're Technus, Ghost Master of Science and Electronic Technology. Not the master of letting someone else do all the work while doing nothing to help." Finishing with the third ghost of the group, Poindexter stated, "And what would everyone say if they found out the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter was trying to run away like a coward so that the ghost boy could fix things by himself? You'll either lose your prized prey or you'll have proof that Danny is undefeatable. Either way, there won't be any more hunting the halfa for you."

"You're on thin ice, Poindexter," Skulker growled. "My patience with you is fading."

"My point is that we have to help him. Wouldn't it be smarter to have as many ghosts against Ammit as possible rather than let him pick us off one at a time? There's strength in numbers. Rather than just ask Danny to stop him alone, we could team up with him to make the best attempt possible to succeed. If we win, you can go back to hunting him another day. If we lose, we'll simply be destroyed sooner rather than later."

Dora gave the black-and-white specter a small smile as he finished speaking. Technus and Ember glanced at Skulker, waiting to see what he would do. They still considered him as their leader for the moment it would seem. They wanted him to make the final decision.

"The dork does have a point," the musician said evenly. "Ammit will wipe us all out if given the chance. And we can't hide forever."

Giving his girlfriend a brief grin that would look natural on most dangerous predators, Skulker declared, "I, for one, have never liked being another's prey. Nor do I like taking orders from someone when there is nothing in it for me. And if Ammit's awakening is pressing fear and unease into the minds of all ghosts, causing us to scurry away and hide to make his hunt more interesting, then I suggest that we don't bend to his will quite so easily. As much as I hate to say it, the scrawny little ghost is right. Helping the whelp would be the best option. Though, be warned, Poindexter. If you should insult my reputation as a hunter again, I will use your hide to craft a jacket for Ember's next concert." As both the monochromatic ghost and the musician grimaced at the hunter's description, he added thoughtfully, "I wonder if it would be possible to collect Ammit's pelt for my collection if we somehow emerge victorious."

* * *

The number of ghosts coming through the portal was beginning to ebb, so Jazz felt it was safe to bring Tucker and Sam down to the basement without having to worry about her parents becoming overly enthusiastic with their shooting and thinking there were "ghosts" behind them. Since Danny wasn't back yet, the three of them decided to start looking through Sam's books for any clue about what might be going on. Meanwhile, the two adults in the lab kept watch on the swirling green opening to another dimension and firing every time a straggler decided to try escaping to the human world. There wasn't much discussion at the moment, but Tucker would pause every now and then to check for messages on his PDA in regards to what was going on with the rest of the town.

"Okay, I'm starting to get a little concerned now," muttered Tucker, staring at the screen.

"What? What happened?" Sam asked, glancing up from the book in her hands.

The bespectacled boy waved his PDA, "There's no ghost activity at all in Amity Park. I mean, not a single hint that dozens of ghosts have been flying out of the portal unhindered."

"Hey, we're hindering them," interrupted Jack before another green figure dove out of the Ghost Zone and straight through the floor.

"But once I check on things outside the city limits, there are news reports all over the world about ghosts popping up. Not all of them are doing anything major, but they're still being sighted," explained Tucker. "Like there's this small town in Kansas where, at a seven year old girl's birthday party, she actually got a pony after blowing out the candles. A pony that glows green and tried to trample someone. There are news crews there now filming other weird occurrences like killer lollipops."

"Desiree," Sam muttered. "Can you find a way to communicate with the people in that town?"

"You're asking me to find a way to contact a small group of people in a different state, with no name, number, or email address to use as a starting point?" he asked, raising an incredulous eyebrow.

"Pretty much," she nodded.

"Give me five minutes," he said simply.

Turning her attention back to the book, Sam instructed, "Let me know when you have contact with someone on site. Preferably on a cell phone."

"How is it that the reality warping ghost is the easiest to deal with?" asked the boy, apparently beginning his search for contact information.

"She's only easy if you know she's listening and we can actually think for two seconds. Otherwise someone ends up dealing with her messed-up wishes and forgetting to just simplify things. Most you have to fight or trick. Desiree just needs someone to say the magic words."

"I'm beginning to see how the kids could have been resourceful enough to combat the town's ghost problem without letting us know what they were up to," muttered Maddie quietly enough that Jazz could barely hear it.

"They've had plenty of practice," the red-haired girl replied equally softly, startling her mother who didn't seem to realize she'd been overheard.

"There are plenty of other ghosts popping up all over the world, but at least we can handle Desiree at a distance," Tucker continued. "But why aren't they making themselves known in Amity Park? There's reports even coming in from the neighboring towns, but nothing within the city itself. We seem like practically the only specter free section at the moment. But that's crazy since we should have more due to the permanent ghost portal and the large numbers swarming out. So why don't we have reports going crazy like the rest of the world?"

"They're keeping a low profile for some reason. The others, those who are coming out of natural portals, know that ghost hunters are spread out and they don't have to worry too much," Sam said.

"But the idea of the Fenton family scares them far too much to risk it in our town, right?" said Jack, a proud grin spreading instantly across his face.

Rather than point out that it was more likely Danny they were afraid of running into, Jazz continued the other girl's line of thought, "They don't want to get caught and tossed back in the Ghost Zone, so they're trying to hide as best they can in Amity Park. The others don't worry as much because they can't be thrown back into their dimension as easily."

"Exactly," nodded Sam. "They'd rather keep a low profile than deal with whatever is in the Ghost Zone right now."

The Goth girl glanced towards the portal momentarily, a slight frown appearing on her face before she turned back to the books she'd brought from home. Jazz didn't have to be a mind reader to know what she was thinking about. She was worried about her brother being in the Ghost Zone with whatever was scaring the ghosts too.

Almost as if summoned by the combined worry of his family, friends, and girlfriend, Danny flew through the Ghost Portal and landed on the ground in front of it.

"Don't shoot," he immediately said, noticing his parents automatically reacting by raising weapons. "It's just me."

"Sorry, sweetie," Maddie instantly apologized, directing her aim elsewhere. "We thought you were someone else. Ghosts just keep coming through."

"And not just here," said Tucker. "They're popping up all over the world, freaking people out. The only place they aren't making a scene is, ironically, Amity Park."

"We figured out where Desiree is," Sam added. "Tucker is trying to get in contact with someone there."

"Not 'trying'," he smiled, holding up his cell phone. "Succeeding. I've got a call going to the new reporter on site. Do you want to do the honors?"

Danny nodded, rings of light encircling his body briefly as he switched to his more ordinary appearance. He held out his hand briefly and his friend tossed him the phone.

Holding it up to his ear, he waited a moment before saying, "Hey, I need you to do me a real quick favor. Please put your phone on speaker and point it towards the floating lady with green skin." There was a brief pause while Danny also switched the cell phone to speaker. Then, in a clear and calm voice, he said, "I wish that you would switch everything back to normal, stop causing problems and freaking out the locals, hide somewhere out of the way where no one can find you to make wishes, and return to the Ghost Zone in three days without making a fuss when it is safe to do so."

Even over the phone's small speakers, Jazz could hear a voice announce, "So you have wished it, so shall it be."

"And that takes care of at least one problem," he smiled, hanging up the cell phone and handing it back to Tucker.

"Why wait three days?" asked Sam. "What's going on in the Ghost Zone?"

"Remember King Pariah? We're about to be dealing with the guy who almost beat him, Clockwork, and a bunch of other powerful ghosts in the distant past," he stated, the grin evaporating. "And he'll apparently be coming to Amity Park tomorrow afternoon."

"Wait, _what_?" asked the three younger members of his audience in unison.

"Wasn't King Pariah the one who pulled out town into the Ghost Zone?" said Jack. "I was kind of having trouble paying attention during that because of the whole Ecto-Skeleton problem… What did happen to it?"

"Blame Vlad," Jazz stated quickly, turning her attention back to her brother. "Tell us more, Danny."

He gave Sam a quick look, "Any of your books talk about someone called 'Ammit'?"

"Hang on," she said, flipping through the pages. "I think I saw something earlier." The black-haired girl finally stopped and pointed at a section of the page, "Here we are. Ammit, also pronounced Ammut or Ahemait, was a female demon in Egyptian mythology who would hang out next to the scales they used to weigh a person's heart to figure out if they were a good or bad person."

"A 'female' demon? I thought Danny said this guy was a dude," interrupted Tucker.

"Clockwork also said that human's got a lot of things wrong. They sort of just borrowed the name rather than copying every detail of the guy," explained the dark-haired boy. "But I want to hear what they say anyway. Maybe the ancient Egyptians got _something_ right we can use."

"Well, let's see," muttered Sam, turning back to the book. "Ammit has a few rather unpleasant titles. She's the 'Devourer,' the 'Devourer of Millions,' the 'Devourer of the Dead,' and the 'Soul-eater.' She's called this because, if a dead person was a found to be more bad than good, she'd get to eat their heart and deny them any further existence in the afterlife."

"So Ammit is meant to kill the dead. At least that part explains why everyone was running for safety," remarked Jazz.

"The most common depiction of Ammit is to show her as having the head of a crocodile, the torso of a wild cat or lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus. Since these are the three most dangerous creatures the Egyptians knew of and the end of a soul's existence being the thing they dreaded most, Ammit was viewed as a very dangerous entity. She wasn't worshipped as a god like the other figures in their mythology. She was the embodiment of their greatest fears," concluded the black-haired girl.

"Well, I couldn't tell for certain what he looked like when Clockwork showed him to me. He was always surrounded by shadows," described Danny. "But even the stories in your book seem to be pointing out that Ammit is someone to fear. And I don't think that he'll restrict himself to just attacking bad guys. Judging by the fact he will be showing up in our world tomorrow, I don't think he'll just destroying ghosts either."

"Having him pop up in the middle of Amity Park won't help our tourist industry," Tucker said. "So what's the plan?"

Before anyone could make a single suggestion, something came out of the Ghost Zone and fired.

A green glowing net launched forward, ensnaring their parents and pinning them against the far wall. While neither seemed to be hurt by the experience, it was enough of a distraction for several ghosts to come out of the portal. And unlike those from before, none of them seemed to be trying to escape. Jazz recognized the ones in front, either from experience or from the time she went through Danny's ghost files. Technus, the green-skinned man with shades and white hair pulled back in a ponytail, was on the left. Ember, a fiery blue-haired musician, was on the right. And in the center, a cannon on his arm demonstrating the source of the net, was the ghost she once called Ghost X when she first began helping her brother: Skulker.

"Really? You want to do this _now_?" growled Danny, shifting into his ghost form as he glared at them. "Why would you think coming into my house and attacking my parents would be a good idea?"

"Because, whelp, we'd rather not be blasted back into the Ghost Zone before we finish speaking," snapped Skulker.

"That still wasn't very nice," another voice stated as a black-and-white teenager slipped by the hulking figure. "We're here to ask him a favor. We should at least try to stay on his good side."

"Sydney Poindexter?" said Danny, Sam, and Tucker in unison.

A green-skinned young woman in a blue dress that seemed to be from the Dark Ages quickly joined the bespectacled specter with a small smile. Neither of them looked as hostile as the three other ghosts in the room.

"We apologize for their behavior," the female ghost stated.

"Dora? What's going on here?" asked Sam.

Adjusting his glasses, Sydney Poindexter said, "I assume you've noticed all the ghosts wigging out lately."

"Yeah, and we know that some guy named Ammit is responsible," Danny stated, still eyeing Skulker suspiciously. "What does that have to do with trapping my parents?"

"I told you, whelp, we didn't want to be blasted while explaining that we don't plan to let Ammit destroy us all," growled the ghost with green fire for hair.

"We know you, dipstick," continued Ember. "We know you have this hero thing where you'll try to stop him. And we know you're tough enough to give him a run for his money, at least compared to what most ghosts would do to the guy. Of course, you probably wouldn't _win_, but you'd at least slow him down."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Danny muttered.

"But the dork and his girlfriend pointed out that Ammit will still come after us after he pulverizes you, meaning we'll get picked off one by one," she said. "And none of us are really happy with that idea."

"So then I, Technus, Master of All Things Electronic and Beeping, helped devise a brilliant strategy to avoid that fate," declared the ghost.

"Silence," snapped Skulker. "You did no such thing. You just trailed around behind us hoping to stay safe until you could find some form of technology."

Sydney said, "We decided that, since you are our best hope of stopping him, we should try and help you do it. There is strength and numbers, after all."

"Wait, you're offering to help us?" asked Jazz, deciding to make use of herself and heading over to try freeing her parents from the net.

"Precisely," nodded the monochromatic ghost, adjusting his glasses.

"While all of this is fascinating," said Maddie as she tried to pry the net loose from the wall, "I have to wonder why you would make such an offer after my son apparently beat you all at one point or another."

"Teaming up against a common foe or threat is something that we have done in the past," stated Dora. "If both humans and ghosts were in danger, we have set aside our differences when necessary. Such was the case against King Pariah and when Danny asked for our help against the asteroid. Is it so strange that we would ask for his help when he has made the same request from him? And would it not be wiser to unite all of our strength against Ammit?"

"United we stand, divided we fall," muttered Tucker.

"We all team up, beat Ammit before he can destroy us, and then we go back to hating each other the next day. Do we have a deal or not?" Ember asked.

Sighing tiredly, Danny said, "Well, Clockwork told me to accept any help that comes our way, so we have to agree."

"Really? Do we have to?" asked Jack just as the net popped loose and freed the parents.

"He's the master of time. If he says to do something, the smartest thing would be to do it," the white-haired teen nodded.

"Welcome to Team Phantom, Dora," smiled Sam, extending a hand to the specter. "We're glad to have you along for the ride."

"Thank you," she smiled back.

"And now I'm not the biggest geek in the group," Tucker said, glancing towards Sydney.

Stepping forward so that he was looming over Danny, Skulker stated, "Be aware, whelp, that this is only a temporary alliance. As soon as the current complication has past, everything will return to how it once was. That means the hunt will resume and your pelt—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," muttered Ember, rolling her eyes. "We all know the routine by now. 'Phantom's pelt will rest on the foot of your bed.' That's what you always say. I think you're just going through the motions by now since you know it isn't going to happen."

"Don't mock me, woman," he shouted.

"What's the matter, O Great Hunter? Afraid someone will notice your failures? After all, you keep promising to hunt him down and yet there he is," she smirked, gesturing at Danny. "Still in one piece and completely free after all this time."

"He's a tricky and valuable prey. One that lesser hunters would stand no chance of capturing," he said. "I have come far closer than any other."

"Actually, Jazz one time caught him three times in a single night, including sucking him into the Fenton Thermos," interrupted Tucker, earning a glare from Danny and a sheepish look from Jazz as their parents glanced at her in confusion.

"Stay out of this," Ember and Skulker snapped in unison.

Technus floated a little farther away from the pair, eyeing them nervously as their fiery hair seemed to ignite further. Dora and Sydney also appeared to have the wisdom to give them some more space. Even without any further evidence, Jazz could tell the two were a couple and interfering would be hazardous to everyone's health. In a way, it was rather fascinating to observe the mentality of ghosts in a relationship and how they behaved towards each other. On the other hand, they were discussing Skulker's capability to catch her brother and toss his pelt onto the foot of the guy's bed. At least Danny didn't look nervous about the conversation. In fact, he looked mildly amused.

"The whelp will someday be mine. Each defeat of impossible opponents and each impossible goal accomplished merely makes him a more valuable prize," continued the hunter. "His hide will be the jewel of my collection once I succeed. No hunt will ever compare to the one he provides."

"So you let him beat you all the time because you'll be _bored_ once he's gone?" Ember asked. "Is that your new excuse?"

"I have never just _let_ him defeat me," he growled. "He is a worthy opponent, one that deserves my complete skills to combat. And it will be a shame to lose such a challenging prey someday. Without the thrill of such a challenging hunt, I don't know what I shall do to occupy my time."

"I'm glad to know that you find me so _dull_ in comparison to hunting down Phantom," snapped Ember. "After all, it would be absolutely crazy to spend time with your girlfriend."

"You're twisting my words," Skulker yelled back. "And I offered to give you his severed head after I finish hunting him down and taking his pelt. Don't you know what a generous gift that is? I could have easily stuck it on my wall instead. You're just unappreciative."

"You think I want a smelly old head as a gift? Dream on, dipstick," she shouted at the larger ghost. "You're the one who wants to use your prey for decorating ideas, not me."

"And as fun as it is to hear my enemies discussing how my demise would affect their love life, I think we should probably focus on the current situation instead," interrupted Danny. "You know, the whole 'Ammit guy deciding to wipe us all out of existence' thing? I'm sure my sister can help you with some nice couples counseling later. She's good at that sort of thing."

While Jazz smiled slightly at her brother praising her knowledge of psychology, she did feel the need to interject an important fact.

"Do keep in mind that I'm not technically a trained professional yet and that dealing with couples hasn't been my focus up to this point. I'll be happy to help the best I can, but I just thought I should warn you about that. I do better with child psychology and psychological complexes."

"Honestly, I think they could _all_ use some professional help," muttered Tucker under his breath. "And probably us as well."

"We don't _need_ couples counseling," Skulker snapped. "But the ghost child is right. We should focus on matters at hand."

"Great, now that we have that settled, let's move on to planning a way to keep Ammit from killing all of us horribly," said Danny. "And we only have until tomorrow afternoon since he'll apparently be popping up in Amity Park around then. Any suggestions?"

No one immediately spoke. Jazz noticed her parents were eyeing the ghosts suspiciously, but they weren't blasting them to oblivion at the moment and teenage girl considered that progress. Tucker was back on his PDA, looking for his answers within technology. Technus was looking around the basement with an expression of glee that would look appropriate on a kid studying his birthday presents. Everyone else was either shooting quick glares at possible enemies or concentrating on figuring out a possible strategy against someone that Jazz only knew the basics about.

Then, from somewhere around the ceiling, a voice decided to interrupt their thoughts.

"Beware!" the voice shouted as a short, blue-skinned ghost phased through the ceiling and floated there with his hands held out in an attempt to be scary. "I am the Box Ghost! I come to warn you of your impending doom, though I am not the source of such chaos this time. A powerful _evil_ has awakened and will soon rain down terror and destruction on everyone."

"We already know that," stated Danny in a flat tone.

"Oh…" the Box Ghost said awkwardly. "Uh… I guess… Can I help?"

"What?" asked Danny, his tone still completely flat and disbelief clear in his voice.

Regaining his earlier volume and apparent confidence, he declared, "I am the Box Ghost and I insist on helping you defeat this terrifying foe. For no one shall deliver true terror and horror except for myself and the cardboard doom that I provide."

Jazz noticed that almost every other ghost in the basement, Sam, Tucker, and Danny were practically rolling their eyes at the Box Ghost's words. There were even a few groans of annoyance from the human teens in the room. She thought she saw a momentary frown appear on the blue-skinned ghost, but it quickly vanished as he tried to look menacing.

"Do we have to have _him_ along?" Skulker asked.

"Can't we just toss him in a thermos for his own safety? And our sanity?" suggested Tucker.

Danny replied, "If he wants to help, I won't stop him. But if I hear the word 'beware' too many times, he can help us by serving as target practice. Or I could have my parents have fun with him."

"We could always do with more test subjects," grinned Jack.

"If you require me to refrain from declarations to beware, then I shall hold my tongue so you are not in a state of constant fear of my might," said the Box Ghost.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that," muttered Sam. "Who knows how afraid we might become if you keep telling us to 'beware.'"

"Terrific, we have that cleared up now," Danny said. "Now, back to the problem of the ghost who intends to destroy us all. What are we going to do?"

* * *

He stared at the stars twinkling in the darkness. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so conflicted about what he should do. He always had a plan that would benefit him in the long run. He manipulated events like a puppeteer did the strings of his marionette. Even with setbacks and failures, he always knew what he was doing and he knew success would bring what he wanted. His sanity might have begun to fray in the time period after his failures with the clones and his goals might have shifted, but there was always a plan with a clear reward in mind. He always knew what to do.

Now, his mind clear and his ego humbled, he couldn't decide what to do. There was no benefit for himself if he returned. He couldn't regain his reputation, his financial success, his political power, or even his home. Those were forfeit the moment he revealed his secret in the most risky and boastful power-play possible and discovered his figurative hidden ace was useless. A promise to save the planet in exchange for money he didn't really need, power and authority that he felt he deserved, the opportunity to rub it in the face of the boy who refused to bend to his wishes, and the chance to stop the charade of being that idiot's friend. And, at least on some level, he hoped that all of it would be enough to win over the woman he loved. He took a big risk and lost it all. And going back wouldn't let him regain it.

In addition to not being able to regain what he'd lost, he would be placing himself in harm's way. Why should he take the risk when he could stay out in the silent, empty void of space? Every shred of logic screamed at him to stay away. There was nothing to gain by returning and everyone would see him as the enemy, even if Ammit wasn't an issue. He couldn't defeat a whole planet. And even his formerly immense ego wouldn't urge him to face an impossible opponent with no resources. He couldn't win by going back. Returning would likely lose him the only thing he had left: his life. Why would he even consider risking such a thing?

Maddie.

Vlad knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, he still loved her. Not the selfish, possessive, smothering love that he once grasped tightly and committed every crime possible in pursuit of. An obsessive love the fueled his every thought while he remained trapped in a hospital after the accident, growing more and more bitter and tainted by fury as she fell for and married another man. That dark and corrupted love that motivated him for years and clouded his mind from realizing what he already possessed, that was fed by his pride and greed, and that turned him into the man he was today, had already shattered during his first week in the isolation of space. That wasn't the form of love that she deserved. That was the form of love that led a man to collecting expensive artwork and trying to buy the Packers. It was shallow, treating her like a possession to be won and kept in his mansion, and in the end caused more harm than good.

His desire to have Danny was the same thing. He saw the boy as _Maddie's_ son. He saw Danny as an extension of her. And when he realized the boy was also half-ghost, it seemed too good to be true. He was the child of Maddie with the powers that made Vlad who he was. Danny was like the metaphorical son of both of them, almost a sign that he and Maddie belonged together. But then he pushed the boy too far and Danny shattered his patience in return, helping fuel Vlad's descent into malicious mental instability until his goals became clouded. He lost sight of his desire to gain Maddie.

He couldn't have her. He resisted and fought for the longest time, trying his best not to admit such a thing. He wanted her, imagined a thousand ways to have her (most of them involving the demise of Jack Fenton), and kept hoping for years that he would manage his goal someday. But isolation, silence, and loneliness beyond his worst nightmares forced his twisted and angry mind so far that true sanity and calm were the only options left to him. He could see his behavior and decisions with a detached point of view. He couldn't have Maddie. He didn't deserve her and he wasn't a man who was worthy of her by this point. The only way he'd be able to have her now would be to either lock her away so she could escape or to find some way to alter her mind so she wouldn't try to leave him. And then she'd either be miserable or she wouldn't be herself.

Jack Fenton, the one he blamed for many years as the source of all his woes, was far less at fault when he thought about it with a level head. The accident was exactly that: an accident. All three of them were involved in the creation of that first portal. Anything could have happened when a trio of college students begins messing with the barrier between two dimensions. It could have affected him, Jack, or Maddie. It was chance that led to Vlad being the one to be changed. And, when it came down to it, the larger man always tried to be a friend and do what he thought was right. Some of it might have been obliviousness to the point of near stupidity, but the rest of it was genuine affection on Jack's part. Even the knowledge of Vlad being half-ghost wasn't enough destroy that offering of friendship until the smaller man pushed things too far. Jack annoyed and frustrated him since the beginning, but he was loyal to a fault. If Vlad just told him in the beginning that he was in love with Maddie, there was a distinct possibility that Jack would have simply backed off and let him have her. And as for stealing Maddie away, that would imply that she didn't have a say in the matter. She's the one who chose the orange jumpsuit-wearing, mountain of a man. She's the one who decided she would rather have a life, a home, and children with Jack. She was happy with her life, the one she built with Jack Fenton rather than Vlad Masters.

He couldn't have her and he could finally accept that as a fact. The burning, obsessive, unrelenting desire to have her finally flickered out, leaving him numb and empty. But he still loved her. Not really in a romantic sense, though his more cynical thoughts were quick to point out he never loved her in a truly romantic sense since his feelings were always corrupted by various selfish thoughts. Now, his head clear and everything else in his life now gone, his remaining emotions towards the woman he'd obsessed over for decades were simpler. He cared about Maddie's happiness and well-being. And if Jack Fenton, of all people, made her happy…

There was a figure of speech that he loathed at times, but could now see the wisdom of: if you truly love something, let it go.

The well-being of Maddie and her family, however, was the problem at the moment. If Ammit really was awake, it was only a matter of time until he showed up in the human world. That would place Danny right in the line of fire since he seemed to have an unwavering hero complex. The other Fentons, undoubtedly still ignorant of their son's actions, would quickly join in. And while Vlad floated far away and safe in the empty solitude of space, they would fall.

_Danny_: the uncompromising boy he wanted to make into his son either directly or through cloning when it became clear he wouldn't change his mind.

_Jazz_: the brilliant young woman who combined the mind of her mother with the sparks of genius that Vlad reluctantly admitted that her father occasionally displayed, leaving the girl with more potential than either of her parents while still being uniquely herself.

_Jack_: the insanely loyal friend he neither wanted at most times nor deserved at all during his life.

_Maddie_: the woman he'd always loved, always would love, and was just now learning to love properly and unselfishly.

He had nothing to truly gain by returning to Earth and he could lose his life if he encountered Ammit. It was smarter to stay away, floating and drifting randomly in between the planets with only the silent stars for company. There was no logical reason to take the risk of going back.

But there were four emotional reasons why he couldn't stay away when there was even the slightest chance that he could keep them safe. He still loved her, even if he couldn't have her. He couldn't let Maddie be harmed when he still held the power to make a difference. There were enough regrets in his life without adding four graves to haunt his mind. It was a crazy decision, but hadn't Danny been calling him fruit-loops for quite some time?

He knew which way was Earth. Even in his self-induced banishment, Vlad always paid attention to where his old home was. Without giving himself time to change his mind, he ended his random floating and took flight through the solar system towards his goal.

"At least I didn't go past Mars," he muttered, speaking aloud for the first time in a long time.

**Yeah, I am under no illusions about Vlad. He was a selfish, obsessive, evil fruit-loop. Even without ghost powers and with Maddie as his wife, we've seen that he grows up to be a fairly bad guy. On the other hand, we've also seen a future where he spends about a decade in regret and loneliness until he is almost a semi-reasonable human being. Basically, he has the capacity to get better than how he used to be. He just needs something big to bash through his "crazed-up fruit-loop"-ness and get him to realize that he isn't going to get what he wants. Once he figures out he won't get his dream reality and that it is his own fault that caused him to lose what he already had, then we can start seeing some sanity starting to seep through. I think he was an evil, possessive, messed up, jerk in the show. I also think there is the capacity to change when the right stimulus is applied. Just don't expect everyone to welcome him back with open arms.**

**On a different note, I had fun playing around a little with Skulker and Ember as a couple. I just kept imagining them as this dysfunctional, argumentative pair that spends at least half their time together making snide comments about the other or yelling insults. I can't see them as a quiet couple who spend their time making goo-goo eyes at each other (though that would be hilarious).**

**And basically calling in to solve the Desiree problem… Yeah, that amused me. You know that it would be that simple if the characters ever sat down and thoughts about it.**

**Thanks for the feedback. I look forward to finding out what you think of this chapter and your predictions for the future.**


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